Gacaca 2nd phase

On Saturday we went to our 2nd Gacaca hearing. It was the start of the 2nd phase of genuine Gacacas. What a system, and what a task. Rwanda re-suscitated an old justice system they had used before independence, whereby village seniors or 'integruous people' in communities resolved property disputs "on the grass/village green". At the end of the 1990s, the country decided that the 120,000 detainees that were by then locked up in prisons needed to be dealt with more swiftly. So they started to classify suspects into 3 (first 4) groups, with the goal of trying those "lower-class" criminals classified in this way in the communities themselves, where their crimes were committed. With the exception of the ringleaders of the genocide, those participating in killings (class 2) are now being tried at the sector level (a local authority unit that comprises some 10,000 people) and those people who committed non-homicidal crimes (class 3) are being tried at the cell level (where generally a couple of 1000 people live).

The pilot of Gacacas started in 2002, and then in 2005 the hearings began in earnest. During the 1st phase of hearings, judges were merely collecting information. More suspects were identified, and Rwanda is now to deal with some 700,000 suspects during the next 2 years (the plan is to finish this whole process by the end of 2007).

What a task. We went along to a sector-level Gacaca on Sat, as became apparent when we started to understand what was being said. Initially, we merely watched as this guy in plain clothing stood up, took a mic, and started talking in a monotonous voice, listing lots of names in the process. We didn't quite know if he was just setting the scene, explaining who was going to be tried, or what. Nobody in the audience showed any emotion.

Then the girl standing next to me took pity on me, and started translating from Kinyarwanda into French. I realised this was a village leader talking, accused of killing several dozens of people. By that time, the guy was cut off by the jury, and I understood he was reprimanded for simply talking about the genocide in general, without explaining his relationship with the Interahamwe and the soldiers he was apparently in charge of at the time. He then said he'd explain all if he'd only be given the time to tell the whole story from the beginning. First series of laughter from the audience, or first sign of indignation i should say.

Then a lady stood up, and we found out she was the wife of someone he was accused of killing. She told the story of how the man and his soldiers had entered her house, smashed the windows, and how she and her children tried to hide under the beds. She said she recognised him clearly. The audience was more involved now. She told the audience that it was him who had killed her husband. She stood 3 meters away from him. Both her and the man stood in front of the jury, in front of some 500 people.

He was then allowed to speak again. He called her a liar. The audience laughed in contempt. He said he knew the men who had entered her house, but he had nothing to do with it. Then things moved faster; another man took the mic and asked the accused of explaining just how he could have been a village leader but not in control of the soldiers/militias then. Our protagonist uttered some excuse and repeated that the woman was a liar, this time because she got the date (or time, or location, I didn't catch that) wrong. The audience just laughed. At that point, another man from the audience asked why he had killed, to protect the Bahutu or to kill the Batutsi. The man then said he'll explain everything, tell the audience the names of additional killers present if they only let him speak uninterrupted. The hearing went on, with more interactions we didn't understand.

We were told the verdict would be reached by 2pm. The guy had been on trial for 2 hours when we left at noon. The court was packed. People are strongly encouraged to attend all hearings, all shops are closed, taxis are not running during hearings. We were told that from now on, there would be Gacacas every week. There are about 12,000 Gacaca courts, and each of them has to deal with around 70 suspects per year. Judging from the hearing we attended, trying 2 suspects in one day is a challenge.

Did I already say, what a task?