The Traditional Juridictions Gacaca

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The Traditional Juridictions Gacaca

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The Traditional Juridictions Gacaca

Name of the business / organization :

The Traditional Jurisdictions Gacaca
Country :

Rwanda
Province :

City of Kigali
District :

Gasabo
Web site :

http://inkiko-gacaca.gov.rw/
Business / Organization Brief Description :

The Traditional Jurisdictions Gacaca

The Traditional Jurisdictions Gacaca were established in 2001 by the Government of National Unity after the genocide against the Tutsis of 1994. The objective of Gacaca was to try and prosecute presumed genocide criminals with the aim of reconciling the Rwandan people.
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Rwanda has a long history in which its own population, neighbors and foreign people got involved. The history of Rwanda is subdivided into three categories: before colonialism, during colonialism and after colonialism; the latter being the period during which the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi took place. The 1994 Genocide is the devastating result of the set of successive repressive regimes of Rwanda based on divisionism which culminated in various ruthless acts such as violence against Tutsi and excluding them from having access to the governance and prosperity of the country.

It is also under these regimes that hatred and repression were promoted. Genocide is among the consequences of bad leadership and subsequent culture of impunity which rewarded perpetrators of crimes against humanity instead of punishing them.

When the Government of National Unity took over on 17th July 1994, the judicial system was completely destroyed through the killing of judges and administrative staff, the escape of others usually due to their involvement in acts of Genocide and other crimes against humanity, the destruction of working materials and equipment, loss of archives, collapse of the state machinery and judicial police. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that without justice, reconciliation among Rwandans was impossible. Thus, the Government of National Unity was committed to finding possible solutions at both the national and international level.

In order to succeed against the problems caused by the Genocide against Tutsi and its consequences, consultative meetings were held between May 1998 and March 1999 at Urugwiro Village. In these meetings issues of Unity, Democracy, Economy and Security were discussed, ways and means were set to create some pillars of development.

As far as Justice was concerning, there was a need to look for an alternative from the experience picked after scrutinizing the work done by Ordinary Courts in dealing with Genocide cases. After 5 years of work, ordinary Courts tried only 6000 cases yet by then over 120, 000 cases were waiting to be tried. The alternative thought and implemented became Gacaca Courts.

Gacaca Courts were set up by the Organic Law N� 40/2001 of 26/01/2001 and replaced by the Organic Law N� 16/2004 of 19/06/2004 establishing the organization, competence and functioning of Gacaca Courts charged with prosecuting and trying the perpetrators of the crime of Genocide and other crimes against humanity, committed between October 1, 1990 and December 31, 1994 as amended to date.

Gacaca Courts are also constitutional as provided in the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of June 4th 2003 as amended to date, in its article 152. These courts were given the following mandate:

To disclose the truth on the genocide events;
to speed up genocide trials;
to eradicate the culture of impunity;
to reconcile and strengthen unity among Rwandans;
to prove the Rwandan Society�s capacity to solve its own problems.

While we are commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of Gacaca Courts, the activities of Gacaca Courts intensified when the first cases were heard on 10th March 2005.Since then, these Courts have managed to try close to 2 million (tentative figure is 1,951,388) cases as the final report will be confirming soon.

It is important to mention that although the work done in Gacaca Courts is attributed to all Rwandans in general, the Gacaca Courts judges amounting to 169,442 usually known as Inyangamugayo deserve a special note of thanks.