Genocide: Over 3 600 convicted
2006-01-10 18:29
Kigali - Grass-roots village courts in Rwanda convicted more than 3 600 people for their role in the country's 1994 genocide in their first eight months of operation last year, officials said on Tuesday.
Between March 10, when they began work, and October 30, 2005, the gacaca (pronounced "gachacha") tribunals heard 4 162 cases, including those of 142 women, and acquitted only 11%, or 496 people, of involvement in the massacres, they said.
The figures are the most complete compilation of the work of the 118 gacaca courts now functioning, according to the National Gacaca Jurisdiction Service (SNJG), which is overseeing the tribunals.
More than 10 000 other gacacas are expected to begin work in the coming months after judges, who are village elders and community leaders, are trained, it said.
Many of those convicted in 2005 had been imprisoned for years awaiting trial before Rwanda's more formal but hopelessly clogged criminal justice system.
They confessed to their crimes to be sentenced to the time they had already served and released, the officials said.
As a result, only about 25%, or 926 people, have appealed against their convictions, 448 of which are still being heard, they said.
Based on the concept of a traditional tribal council, the gacacas were set up with the aim of clearing a heavy backlog of genocide-related cases from Rwanda's criminal courts, which have so far tried fewer than 10 000 suspects.
Some 800 00 Rwandans, about 10% of the population and a number equal to those killed in the 100-day genocide between April and July 1994 in which Hutu extremists targeted mainly minority Tutsis, are expected to appear before the tribunals.
All of those to be tried are accused of participating in, but not organising or directing, the killings and can be given sentences ranging from time served or community service to life in prison, which constitutes a 30-year jail term.