There are four levels of trial of genocaires in Rwanda. The high criminals and masterminds of the genocide are being tried by an international tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania.
In Rwanda, the planners, organizers, media hate mongers, inciters, are being tried by the traditional court system; as are the perpetrators and conspirators, those people who are accused of carrying out the genocide with malice. These categories cover crimes of murder and grievous bodily injury.
The remaining accused, those who cooperated in the murders, were present but not identified as having actually killed anyone - in other words, the accomplices - and those accused of looting, theft, crimes against property, are eligible for trial before the Gacaca courts.
The Gacaca courts are local tribunals, presided over by elected judges who are "people of integrity" chosen by their neighbors for this position. Gacaca literally translates as "on the grass". Throughout Rwanda's history, disputes would be decided between neighbors by adjourning to the gacaca grass to sit, discuss, mediate, work out solutions to personal and community problems.
The Gacaca courts are not permitted to hand down the death penalty. Sentences may range from life imprisonment to community service and reintegration in the community. As in our system of justice, plea bargaining is controversial but key to the effective operation of the system. A premium is placed on confession (very probably because of the very real need for people to have closure, to know exactly what has happened to their loved ones), and the system allows for immediate release if a suspect confesses and repents of his or her actions.
There are approximately 10,000 Gacaca courts currently operating in Rwanda. The number of judges on the court was originally 19, but this number has been reduced to 9, to make the process less cumbersome and move cases more quickly through the system. There are strong cultural norms behind these courts, which emphasize the values of restorative justice and forgiveness, and deemphasize retribution.
As an aside: One of the problems in Rwanda was its excellent organization. Communities were organized into cells. So it was very easy for the Hutus to use the traditional government structures to carry out the genocide efficiently.
A further issue in this society is the role of authority. If you are told to kill, and it fits your moral compass, you tend to follow orders and do it. Illiteracy helped. Most people were (and still are) illiterate. At the time of the genocide there was 80% illiteracy in the country - and that was only 10 years ago! (A further plea for those who want to spend or raise $125 to send a child to school for a year!)
One final comment before I tell of the trial: The hurt and pain inflicted by the RPF on its way into the country is systematically overlooked in the entire process. Many atrocities and revenge killings were committed then, but are not being prosecuted. It is the genocide issues that are all-encompassing.
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The 9 judges filed in, each wearing a blue, yellow and green sash that read "Inkikogacaca" (Court of Gacaca) on the back, and "Inyangamugayo" (Trusted person) on the front, and sat on a podium at the front.
The prisoners were summoned from the rear, where they had been seated, and seated on a bench along the side of the enclosure. The setting was: the tribunal in front. Facing it, a series of benches that would seat approximately 60 or 70 people. This was mostly full. Along the side were two benches: a long one for observers (this was where we sat) and a smaller one closer to the front where the prisoners and their guard sat. There were no attorneys involved in this process. The enclosure had tarps draped above the seating area, which provided necessary shade. Some people also stood or sat on the grass outside the seating area.
I presented our papers to the court, and was given permission to attend and observe.
Request by the chief judge: "All cell phones off".
All stand: "We are going to remember" There was a considerable time of silence; then we sat.
The regulations and laws of Gacaca were announced Raise your hand if you wish to speak The chairperson will allow a person to speak Each person to talk must speak the truth No abusing others Speak in few words No going astray. You may only talk about gacaca The accusers of the prisoners were seated on a front bench (though others came forward later from the assembled crowd).
The first prisoner to be tried was Kampayara. The charge: some people in a family whose names are not known were killed by him.
This was Kampayara's second hearing. The first had been the testimony and fact-finding hearing, and this was to be the judgment phase. The tribunal read a statement by Kampayara to the court, in which he said "he didn't do anthing. He was with other people who killed, but he did not kill."
Kampayara got up to talk to the community. He said the testimony against him was false. He further said that the person who accused him of these killings had gone before another gacaca court in another district and accused another person of those same killings. He stated: "At the time I knew gacaca was beginning I wrote to ask to come here because at present I am hurting. There is another man who committed the murders I am accused of." He pled not guilty and said "I am a different person". "This is the time to tell the truth. I was with the group. Everyone was commanded to kill and to hurt. I was just hoping not to be killed - but I was not going to hunt and not going to kill."
Ciel is the accuser of Kampayara. Kampayara pleads with Ciel to believe him. He says to the tribunal that Ciel is "telling lies to you."
Another witness, who is currently in prison, wrote to the Gacaca tribunal and gave testimony against Kambayara, stating that he was near the place and a witness to what Kambayara did. The chief judge asked Kampayara if he knew how X (didn't get his name) died. He said "yes, I understand he died, but the accuser and the dead man were neighbors and the accuser probably did it."
A statement of the prisoner witness was read by the judge, talking about another person Kampayara was accused of killing, Katabogama. Kampayara was accused of having a gun in his home, and said it was for his own security.
Other people rose to give testimony, each one saying that they did not see him kill anyone, but saw him going up and down, looking at people killed to identify them, to steal their property, their tables, chairs, cows, etc. The tribunal judge added that 6 people who were not present today had previously been given a chance to testify and tell the truth about what they saw Kampayara do, and all said they did not see him kill; only take property.
"Is there anyone in the audience with anything to add?"
A member of the audience, Charles, rises and and accuses Kampayara: "We have got our relatives he killed. All of us here have our relatives he killed."
A second accuser rises, accuses him of more killings.
A third person, a woman, addresses Kampayara directly: "If you (Kampayara) did not kill Katabogama, and we all know you were hunting him, what did you want to do with him?"
The chairperson turns to Kampayara and tells him to respond to the question. Kampayara requests: "Before I say anything, read again the statement the accusing lady made." Statement read. Response: "I can't be accused of this now. Since these people didn't say the same thing during the information-gathering stage of my hearing, they can't change their testimony now."
The chief judge asks him to state if he killed Katabogama. He says "No. I was a member of the group who killed him, but I did not kill him."
(Note: Joyce, Gaston's wife, has been our translator for this proceeding. Her family fled to Uganda in 1959, so she was raised with English as her second language. At this point in the proceedings, she said that her exact translation was suspect, but that what was happening was that Kampayara was changing his testimony, and she could not accurately translate the nuances of the change.)
Kampayara begins to change his testimony. He says: "I had a gun with me. I am a human being. I accept what the tribunal will decide, and hope for help from the community.
Joyce added: At the end, because others knew what he did, he changed his position of innocence to instead ask that if they find him guilty, they will forgive him.
The accusers of Kampayara come forward to sign their testimony. The tribunal decides that because this hearing has taken too long, they will not to hear 2 additional accusers whose testimony is consistent with what they gave before in the fact-finding hearing. The judge states that the tribunal will retire after the second hearing and deliberate both cases.
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Second prisoner, Nicodemus, is summoned to the bench. The accuser raises his right hand, swears to tell the truth. "We were neighbors. I can tell you everything that took place. Nicodemus was persecuting these people (Tutsis), hunting them. I am not sure if he killed them or not.
The chief judge asks why he was not sure. Response: "Some were killed at night, some in the day. I am not sure if he killed."
The prisoner speaks, states that at the first hearing of his case there were witnesses who could testify on his behalf, but they are not present today.
The accuser is on both sides. He accuses Nicodemus of killing a certain lady, but asks the tribunal to forgive Nicodemus. The accuser states that he had a wound in his leg so he couldn't move around. He knew of the genocide, but did not take part.
The tribunal begins questioning the accuser. Apparently the accuser is also a suspect, possibly one of the undiscovered genocaires, suspected of killing a woman, Malther.
A second accuser, Bimaryimana, rises, swears to tell the truth, accuses Nicodemus of killing yet another person, Concord.
The tribunal asks for details: "How do you know Concord died? Did you see it? Where were you?"
Bimaryimana: "I had lunch with people who said he died."
Judge's question: "How did he die?" Was he killed by gun or ntampongano (the instrument with a long stick with a nail that was used in the killings at the churches of Ntarama and Nyamata) or what?
Bimaryimana: "I don't know how he died. Just had lunch with people who said Concord died."
Judge: "How do you know he died?"
Bimaryimana: "I didn't see him again, and we were neighbors."
(At the information stage of this proceeding Bimaryimana had given information that he did not know how these people died, and that he had not seen Nicodemus kill them). The tribunal now begins questioning Bimaryimana to see if he is bringing false testimony because he did not like Nicodemus, since he has no facts to back up his accusations.
The chief judge at this point reads the accuser an article of the laws of gacaca, informing him that he is in danger if he is perjuring himself. She informs him that he can be arrested if he comes to gacaca and tells lies, imprisoned for 3-6 months for the lies, and if it is found that he took part in anything that he is accusing others of, 6 months to a year. (The focus of this hearing had definitely shifted from a trial of Nicodemus to the truthfulness of his accusers. Nicodemus has yet to make a statement, and no credible evidence of guilt has yet been presented.)
Muteteri, a very substantial lady in the audience --- one whom you feel the entire community has great respect for - addresses Bimaryimana directly, advising him to tell the truth. She states that "other people here are neighbors of Nicodemus."
Another person in the audience rises and addresses Bimaryimana: "At the moment you heard Malther had died, what did you do to get more information? To confirm that she had died? (The proceeding seems to have turned into a trial of Bimaryimana)
Muteteri (dressed in beautiful brown dress with blue and white pattern, matching head dress) suggests that Nicodemus had stayed in the house with the person who was killed (Malther). Note: there are two deaths under discussion here, Malther and Concord, and the testimony seems to be going back and forth between them.
The tribunal asks: "Was Malther the housemaid?"
Response: "No. Just there because she was a friend and had no house of her own."
Another speaker (woman in pastel slack outfit): not accusing. Asks Muteteri and Bimaryimana to tell the truth. They seem to know a great deal. Perhaps they know how Malther died.
Bimaryimana responds. Lady gets very angry and argues him down. Bimaryimana says there is enough information about what Nicodemus did.
Muteteri: "We can't say if Nicodemus killed or not."
Another accuser rises, sworn in: He is the brother of Concord, who died. He says Bimaryimana is telling the truth. Says another person in jail was with Nicodemus. That person (Ntabakunzi) should be brought to court next Saturday to testify about these events, and about what Nicodemus did.
A woman in yellow outfit and headdress rises, suggests that the tribunal wait for Ntabakunzi's testimony next Saturday. Says that one of the two, either Nicodemus or Ntabakunzi, killed Concord.
A man in back row talks directly to Nicodemus: "If given time to speak, tell the truth. Even if Ntabakunzi is not here to testify, plese tell us the truth. What happened?"
Woman: "I saw Ntabakunzi taking things of Concord's, looting." Tribunal asks her to come next Saturday to give testimony.
Another woman with eyeglasses rose, accused Ntabakunzi of raping her. Tribunal asks her to come next Saturday to give testimony.
Member of the tribunal has been writing the testimony all along. Now each accuser comes forward to sign their testimony.
Nicodemus will not speak. Case held over one week.
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Rusanganwa, an accused who is not in prison, but living has been living in the community for the past 10 years since the genocides, is summoned to the bench. Information has been given that he killed someone.
Tribunal: "What is your plea?" "Did you kill?"
"I did not."
"Then who did?"
Tribunal: "We will call Koyinamura. (It is believed that either Koyinamura or Rusanganwa killed Ndahaya).
"Were you interhama or not?"
"I wasn't among them.
Tharmal, a woman in a flowered skirt, white blouse, is called, swears to tell the truth, testifies that Rusanganwa didn't kill Ndahaya and wasn't in the Interhama.
Cell phone goes off. Judicial reprimand.
Man takes oath. "I didn't see Rusanganwa kill anyone, but he did respect the flag of the MLND (political party of the Interhama).
Man in blue shirt takes oath. (Smell of meat being grilled wafts across the area. We've been listening to testimony for well over two hours, and no one has budged.) He testifies: "Rusangawa was among the men in a group who came to kill me, but we locked ourselves in the house and the group couldn't get in. I escaped. No people were killed. Some were seriously beaten. I was locked inside, and do not know any more. I was injured in back, in face, and in my leg. I still have scars. I do not know if Rusangawa hit me, but he was in the group who did it. He was there."
Rusangawa: "If this is the truth, I allow you to go and imprison me."
Man in white shirt, addressing accuser: "If you really knew that Rusangawa injured you and was in the group, why didn't you give a statement earlier?"
Blue shirt asks white shirt questions about a man called Gasilabo who died. People who killed Gasilabo were arrested. Why wasn't Rusangawa arrested along with the rest of the people who killed Gasilabo, since this was the same group?
The judges state that the information on Gasilabo's death was gotten directly from the high court. It was not done by community testimony. The local courts and community do not know the facts about Gasilabo's death because the information had not been made available to residents. They do not know the whole story.
Eric, a young man in a yellow soccer jersey and shorts: "We can do nothing with this case without further information."
There seems to be a difference of opinion between the accuser who says Rusangawa was in the group that beat him and others, who say they did not see him kill, did not see him in the Interhama, and more information is needed.
The judge says: "There were a lot of people in the group, all of whom have been accused. At no time was Rusangawa's name put forward, or was he accused of anything. Why hadn't his name come up before this? (The judges evidently think that this is a personal vendetta).
Rusangawa's case is put over until next Saturday. The tribunal will get information on the Gasilabo case from the high court. People approach the bench to sign their statements. The man who said he was injured signed and left the court. He is the first person to have left all day.
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Alex: Accused of robbery and persecuting people. He is also accused of being the secretary to a group called the Committee de Crise (Committee of Crisis).
Alex states that the vision of this group was different from the Interhama.
Judge: speaks sternly to Alex: "I request that you tell us what the intention of the group of which you were secretary was."
Alex: "The group looked for guns for its own security, to fight killers, but did not fulfill its goals."
Judge: "Why were you the secretary? How do you have papers?"
Alex: "I was taken by force to write. I was accused by the chairman of the sector. He used the papers to accuse me. I don't know how the chairman got the papers. The Committee de Crise (Committee of Crisis) is the group. Another person was the real secretary. I was forced to come and write for one day."
Judge: "Why did they trust you?"
Alex: "I had spent a few days after finishing school."
Judge: "The Committee de Crise was not good. They did very bad things. If you helped them, aren't you responsible for what they did?
Alex silent.
Judge: It's bad for you if you have nothing to say.
Talk about another man, Gishama, who attended Committee de Crise meetings. Judge read statement by Gishama. Committee de Crise did bad things. Alex, as secretary, was in a trusted position, knew that the committee's actions were not good. Therefore he was in collaboration with the crimes of the committee.
Alex signed his statement.
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Man in a blue shirt with red pinstripes called to testify. He was a deputy minister in MLND, the political party of Habanyara,the past president, whose plane was shot down. He was called to testify about the Committee de Crise and its work. "The actions of the Committee de Crise were to discriminate against non Hutu tribes." He tells of his job as deputy minister. "I was not among those who worked with the Committee de Crise, but they would call me to advise them as a minister. People supreme to me would send letters telling me to encourage Hutus to kill. Because I avoided encouraging the Interhama, I was removed from my job, forced out of my position as deputy minister."
"My superiors would write letters telling me to order killings - but I didn't do it. By not doing so, I was no longer a minister." "I was not among the Committee de Crise, except the day I got fired. I went to Gisenya (a town in the west, on Lake Kiva, near the Congo border) to find food for my children until I heard that the army of the RPF had reached Kigali, so I returned. I was not among those responsible."
Judge: "Didn't you support the Committee de Crise financially?"
"No"
"Why not?"
"I knew they supported the ex-President and Interhama. My wife is Tutsi tribe. They wanted to kill Tutsis, and my wife would have been killed. I didn't want to join and I didn't support them."
Judge: "The information against you was gotten from the radio and from the Gacaca program. This is where your name and Gishama's came up.
Minister: "I will give a letter showing that the central government stopped my attendance at meetings because of my contrary views. I was discriminated against. They stopped my kids from going to school. I was fired, not allowed in meetings. All was kept secret from me. In reality, of all the political parties by then, the MLND was the strongest. Everyone had to fight and to plan for their own defense. By all Hutus I was not accepted and I didn't mix in other worlds. Like Alex, who was only secretary once, I was a minister but they kept secrets from me."
Man in audience with tracksuit jacket: "There was a Committee de Crise for the whole country. It kept guns for defense of the party. What was the difference between a political party and the Committee de Crise?"
Minister: "Political parties are known. The Committee de Crise was known only to the President, ex-President, other high ministers. I wasn't in on those meetings."
The man who had uncovered and turned in the papers showing Alex was the secretary of the Committee de Crise rose to speak. He was chairman of the sector in 1995, after the genocide. That is how he got the papers. "They were given to me by another person who I don't want to mention here. After I got the papers some people knew I had them and tried to attack the man who gave them to me.. His name will be given to the tribunal only - but must remain secret. I was also marked to be killed because I had the papers, so I brought the papers to the tribunal and got security."
The tribunal announced they would retire to their offices to confer and judge. "We request that you return next Saturday, and we will tell you how we have judged these two people (the prisoners). We will not reach a verdict today.
2:00: Court stands adjourned