Justice compromised
Subtitle: the legacy of Rwanda's community-based Gacaca courts
By: [Leslie Haskell]
Contributors: Human Rights Watch (Organization)
Publisher: Human Rights Watch
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 144
ISBN-13: 9781564327574
Subjects: Restorative justice; Genocide; Dispute resolution (Law); Gacaca justice system; Human rights
Other titles: Legacy of Rwanda's community-based Gacaca courts
Description: "Since 2005, just over 12,000 community-based gacaca courts in Rwanda have heard more than 1.2 million cases against people accused of involvement in the country's 1994 genocide. The local population across the country participated in these trials, and judges were lay members of the community. The objectives of gacaca were to deliver justice for the genocide, reduce the massive prison population, and foster reconciliation. This ambitious experiment in transitional justice leaves behind a mixed legacy.  Recognizing the enormous challenge the Rwandan government faced in building a system to rapidly process tens of thousands of cases, this report notes some of gacaca's achievements, including the swift work of the courts, the extensive participation of local communities, and the opportunity for genocide survivors to learn what happened to their relatives. Gacaca may also have helped some victims find a way to live peacefully with neighbors who may have perpetrated crimes against them or their families. However, the longer-term processes of justice and reconciliation remain fraught and incomplete.  Rwandans have had to pay a price for the compromises made in applying community-based justice to crimes as serious as genocide. Mixing elements of a modern punitive legal system with more informal conflict-resolution traditions, gacaca lacked a number of important safeguards against violations of due process.  Based on Human Rights Watch's extensive trial observations and interviews, and drawing on more than 350 gacaca cases, the report explains how justice has been compromised in many cases. It highlights a wide range of fair trial violations, including limitations on accused persons' ability to effectively defend themselves, intimidation of defense witnesses, flawed decision-making due to inadequate training for lay judges and insufficient guidelines on the application of complex criminal law concepts. Many decisions were likely influenced by judges' ties to the parties in a case or their pre-conceived views of what happened during the genocide. Other cases suggest that accusations of participation in the genocide were no more than trumped-up charges linked to disputes between neighbors and relatives or to the government's attempts to silence critics. Corruption by judges and interested parties was a constant threat to the integrity of the system and some judges had to be removed on that basis.  As gacaca draws to a close, the Rwandan government should ensure that a specialized unit of the conventional court system reviews alleged miscarriages of justice. Impartial handling of these cases will be of paramount importance to the legacy of gacaca and to strengthening the Rwandan justice system in the longer term."--P. [4] of cover.
Notes: "This report was researched and written by Leslie Haskell, Rwanda Researcher at Human Rights Watch, and contains information gathered by several local gacaca observers and previous Human Rights Watch researchers"--P. 144.

"May 2011"--Table of contents page.

Includes bibliographical references.

Also available via the Internet on the Human Rights Watch web site.
Table of contents: title: I. Summary; title: II. Recommendations; title: To the Rwandan Government; title: To Rwandan Justice Officials; title: To the Rwandan Legislature; title: To Donors; title: To Countries Considering the Use of Dispute Resolution Mechanisms Similar to Gacaca to Prosecute Serious Crimes; title: III. Methodology; title: IV. The Rwandan Genocide and the Decision to Use Gacaca; title: V. The Initial Phase of Gacaca; title: Differences between the Customary and Contemporary Gacaca Systems; title: The Legal Framework Governing Genocide Cases and Gacaca Courts; title: Rwanda's first genocide law; title: The gacaca laws; title: Gacaca's Pilot Phase; title: National Implementation of Gacaca; title: Repeated Extensions of Gacaca's Closing Date; title: The Final Phase of Gacaca; title: VI. Balancing Community-Based Conflict Resolution Practices with Fair Trial Standards; title: Limited International Fair Trial Rights in Gacaca; title: The right to counsel; title: The presumption of innocence; title: The right to be informed of the case and to have time to prepare a defense; title: The right to present a defense; title: The right to testify in one's defense and the right against self-incrimination; title: Protection from double jeopardy; title: The right to be present at one's own trial; title: The right not to be arbitrarily detained; title: Differences in Judicial Standards between Conventional Courts and Gacaca; title: Judges: qualifications, training, remuneration and removal; title: Burden and standards of proof; title: Sentencing and Reparations; title: Provisional releases; title: "Life imprisonment with special provisions"; title: Community service; title: Compensation; title: VII. The Community Dynamic of Gacaca; title: Community Participation; title: Risks for Witnesses; title: Risk of arbitrary arrest and detention or being charged with committing perjury or complicity in genocide; title: Fear of being ostracized by the community; title: Intimidation; title: Gacaca as a Means of Resolving Personal Grievances; title: Silencing Opponents and Critical Voices; title: The case of Dr. Théoneste Niyitegeka; title: The case of Father Guy Theunis; title: Other cases; title: VIII. Independence and Impartiality of the Gacaca Process; title: Potential Conflicts of Interest for Judges; title: Corruption and Personal Gain through Gacaca; title: Judges requesting bribes; title: Accused persons seeking exoneration; title: Genocide survivors seeking compensation; title: External Interference in Decision-Making; title: IX. Rape Cases: the Antithesis of Gacaca; title: The Decision to Transfer Rape Cases to Gacaca; title: Rape Cases that Were Not Brought before Gacaca; title: Rape Victims' Perspectives on Gacaca; title: X. Selective Justice and the Failure to Address Rwandan Patriotic Front Crimes; title: XI. Perspectives on Gacaca; title: Genocide Survivors' Perspectives; title: The Perspectives of Those Accused of Genocide and their Families; title: Reconciliation Achieved?; title: XII. International Support for Gacaca; title: XIII. Conclusion; title: Annex I. Letter to the Rwandan Minister of Justice from Human Rights Watch, March 30, 2011; title: Annex II. Response to Human Rights Watch from the Rwandan Minister of Justice, May 5 2011; title: Acknowledgements.