|
|
Preparing for Gacaca in a Kigali neighbourhoodBy Hirondelle News Agency Sitting under the shade of a eucalyptus tree away from the scorching sun, the residents of Bwerankoli Cell (the lowest level of local administration in Rwanda) prepare to kick-start their Gacaca tribunal. The head of the Cell, Andre Barayagwiza, opens the proceedings with a two hour delay. "We have waited long enough and we are still less than a hundred, what will happen when the real trials begin?" he asks the assembly. He then goes into the heart of the matter. "We must speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We are all witnesses, especially those who were present during the genocide", says the head of the Cell. He then turns towards those whose lives were not threatened in 1994. "The information we want will not come from the survivors because they were in hiding, but we who were not being hunted down. We were the ones who witnessed the acts". He now has the undivided attention of the assembly. The absence of the intellectual elite is glaring. "Gacaca regards us all. Where are these intellectuals working in ministries and government parastatals? We need them" he adds. The president of Gacaca jurisdictions in the Cell, Mukiza is also not happy with the absence of the Cell’s elite. "The offices are closed today so they can not argue that they have been held back by work. Who do they think they are? Even the President of the Republic set an example by being present on the opening of the general assembly of his Cell", he pointed out. On of the most serious problems faced by Gacaca tribunals during its pilot phase was the absenteeism of senior officials in the public and private sector. "Can someone attend the general assembly with his wife"" asks a participant, much to the surprise of the assembly. "Of course, women must participate in all the nation’s programs?, answers the head of the Cell. He turns especially to women whose husbands are in prison accused of genocide. "Some of your husbands have been in prison for the last 10 years and you insist that they are innocent. Now is the time for you to come forward. Your neighbours will tell the Gacaca tribunal whether they saw them kill or not". He reminds them that most of the genocide suspects will appear before Gacaca courts and that the testimonies of those who confessed would be of great use. The Rwandan government has since last year been releasing prisoners under the "guilty plea procedure". But no one from Bwerankoli Cell has returned home from prison, an indication, says the head of the Cell, that no one from the neighbourhood has pleaded guilty. "We all know that people in this Cell were killed during the genocide. Does it mean that all those in prison are innocent?", he asks. Dressed in flowing robes and a cap to fit, Mwalimu Issa stands up. "Gacaca concerns us all," he announces three times before embarking on his explanations. "There are many guilty people who might never be identified", he says. "Take an example of the road to Gitarama (central Rwanda). Displaced people from Byumba would stop people on the way and kill them. No one knew them. After committing the crimes they took refuge in the Congo", he points out. "Later on they returned to Byumba (north-east) where they have no case to answer. They calmly go about their way as if they are innocent. How will their crimes be unmasked?" he asks, a question for which no one in the gathering seems to have an answer. The participants however point out that those who committed massacres in Bwerankoli Cell are well known. "Those who died here were killed by their neighbours" they say, citing some of the names of the alleged killers. "There will be no suspicions or distrust if we speak the truth. The guilty must be punished and the innocent rehabilitated by us", concludes Andre Barayagwiza. But the going is not yet smooth for Gacaca tribunals: their biggest obstacle is their understanding of the newly amended law. "From next week, we are embarking on a training-for-trainers program all over the country", an advisor of the National service for Gacaca jurisdictions, Augustin Nkusi, told Hirondelle. "People trained at the provincial level will go down and train those on the hills. We hope that by the end of June the training will be over throughout the country". He added that the exercise will need a lot of resources, with the Rwandan government contributing the biggest share, though it also received support from the European Union, USAID, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria.
|
