Rwanda genocide trials begin

2004-06-25 18:10

Kigali - Thousands of community-based Rwandan courts have formally begun trying suspects in the nation's 1994 genocide.

Suspects went on trial on Thursday at more than 8 000 of the traditional courts - where community members serve as judges - after a smaller scale, two-year test phase for the traditional court system.

The traditional courts are separate from the conventional judicial system, which is also trying suspects in higher-profile cases that mainly deal with those accused of leading the 100-day genocide.

Rwanda turned to the community courts, called gacaca, in a bid to speed up a massive undertaking - trials for the 80 000 other people accused of taking part in the government-orchestrated massacre of more than 500 000 Tutsis and political moderates from the Hutu majority.

Under the community court system, local people are elected and trained to serve on nine-judge panels. The maximum sentence is life in prison.

Some genocide survivors are critical of the community courts, saying they are too lenient and too slow in delivering justice.

"I have lost the confidence in the gacaca process because the (slow) rate at which trials are done is simply demoralising," said Claudine Uwamahoro, 26, a shopkeeper who lost four members of her family during the genocide.

Survivor security important

During the two-year test run for the local system, 750 courts conducted trials, imprisoning 376 people. Another 386 people were freed, either because they were found innocent or they were younger than 18 at the time they committed the crimes.

During the test phase, the legislature made adjustments to how the courts run trials. A week ago, for example, it was decided to allow rape victims to testify in private to encourage women abused during the genocide to come forward.

In each community where a gacaca has been set up, people held public meetings where residents detailed what happened in the neighbourhood during the slaughter and identified the victims as well as culprits.

Residents then determined the seriousness of the crime and charged each suspect.

President Paul Kagame said his priority is to guarantee the security of survivors who are expected to provide some of the key testimony at the community courts.

"I know witnesses have been intimidated and harassed for revealing the truth; this should stop," Kagame said before attending gacaca proceedings at an affluent neighbourhood in the capital, Kigali.

Kagame also warned against manipulating the community justice system to serve personal interests.

"We are going to put in place penalties for those who interfere and try to manipulate gacaca proceedings," Kagame said.

- AP