Kigali, 29 June 2009
According to the Hirondelle News Agency, trials before the semi-traditional gacaca courts, charged with trying the majority of the alleged authors of the 1994 genocide, could continue until the end of the year even if they have already been concluded in certain areas of the country.
The National Service of the Gacaca Courts (SNJG) had initially planned to wind up its trials at the end of this month.
“We cannot schedule a date, our intention is more to empty the genocide cases than a race against the clock,” Denis Bikesha, an official for training and planning at the SNJG, indicated last week to the Hirondelle News Agency.
The agents of this department are currently travelling around the administrative sectors of the country for consultations.
In addition, the investigation phase was re-opened in certain areas, in particular in the Bisesero region (western Rwanda) and in Kabgayi (central Rwanda).
“We will not conclude by leaving the problems behind us. We will not leave any trial for the simple concern of closing,” indicated Bikesha.
These courts are inspired by former assemblies during which the wise men of the village, sitting on the grass (gacaca, in Kinyarwanda), settled disagreements. They are not presided by professional magistrates but by “just people” elected from among the community. Since last year, the courts could give a sentence of up to life in prison, the maximum sentence in Rwanda.
SE/ER/NI/GF
Source: Hirondelle News Agency
