In the district of Kanombe near Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, about 150 people are gathered together under a plastic canopy in the shade of some trees.
Every Wednesday morning they meet here to attend a Gacaca trial in order to find out who was involved in genocide murders in their area.
The judges are so-called persons of integrity, from within the community. All of them are temporary judges, who have only had a short training session, and they all do the work on a voluntary basis.
In June last year the Rwandan government introduced the Gacaca courts to assist the justice system in an attempt to speed up the trials. Nine years after the genocide about 100 000 people accused of taking part in it are in prison under difficult conditions. Most of them have never been before a judge.
In January President Paul Kagame released 20 000 prisoners who had confessed their crimes.
Klaas de Jonge from Penal Reform International in Kigali is one of those who remain critical about the mass releases. He believes they could undermine the confidence in the Gacaca process.
”Gacaca has to hear the different statements and witnesses. [It] then has to decide if the confession is complete or not and to categorise the crimes. This was now done before the accused passed through Gacaca.”
The most important aspect of Gacaca is the participation of the community in the process of finding out the truth. One hundred local residents have to be present at each general assembly before a Gacaca court begins.
But whether Gacaca is really able to promote reconciliation as the government intends remains to be seen.
Olivier Mazimpaka, a student, lost his father, brother and many more relatives during the genocide. It was a long time before he was able to trust again.
”I don’t know where my little brother is buried. The murderer is in the prison in Nyanza today. Even if he says, ‘Yes, I am the one who killed him,’ that’s not enough for me. Up to now I could not forgive him, because he didn’t tell me all the things he knows.”
Persons accused of genocide crimes are divided into four categories:
Category one are those accused of planning and organising the genocide, as well as of rape and sexual torture;
Category two are those who are accused of homicide;
Category three are those who committed serious assaults against people without the intention to kill; and
Category four are those who have damaged property.
Jacqueline Mukakalisa, a farmer from Kanombe, is one of thousands of women who were raped during the genocide. Today her rapist is in prison.
In 1994 the man was employed by the local authorities and could enter each house and attack the girls he wanted, Mukakalisa remembers.
One day he had to speak in front of the Gacaca court where Mukakalisa serves as a judge. During the hearing she stepped down from her role as a judge and appeared as a witness. If a perpetrator asks for pardon, she can forgive him, Mukakalisa emphasises.
The Gacaca trials are proceeding more slowly than expected. Since their inception last year the courts have been in a pre-trial stage, identifying victims and suspects of the genocide. The first sentences will probably not be handed down until the end of this year.
In some areas attendance at the Gacaca sessions is very poor. Aloys Habimana from the Rwandan human rights organisation Liprodhor says the problem is at the level of ”ownership”.
In some districts the population considers Gacaca to be the business of only some authorities or of those who were elected as judges. Security also plays a big role.
”Many people will prefer to keep silent on things they know. Don’t think it is an easy thing to testify against your neighbour. People may be scared of being attacked, should they testify against someone.”
Some people also question the competence of the judges. Others criticise the fact that Gacaca only deals with genocide crimes of the former regime against Tutsis and moderate Hutus, but not with the human rights violations by the former Rwandan Patriotic Front rebel army.
Though the lay courts remain fragile, they are an important step and show the will of Rwandans not to accept impunity any longer.
After years of discrimination, expulsion and genocide the small Central African country has little alternative but to continue with the Gacaca courts.