Meeting with Mr. Félicien Munyurangabo, Director of Gacaca jurisdictions in Kibungo Province

Gacaca, meaning ‘on the grass’, is a traditional form of justice used in Rwanda during pre-colonial times. It is a participatory system; the whole community is involved and the judges and administrators are also members of the local population. The formalisation of this traditional practice is the Rwanadan government’s response to the problem of trying the thousands of prisoners accused of participating in the genocide. At present Gacaca is operating on a trial-basis in twelve sample courts around the country. Mr. Munyurangabo told us that the sample courts have been in session for two months, beginning on the 19th June 2002. It was estimated that the process would take two months, however the cases are not yet closed. The Gacaca process is comprised of a series of meetings when different activities are carried out

Meeting 1 Elected officials meet together and fix days for convening of the meetings.
Meeting 2 Elected officials count the people who were settled in that sector before and after genocide.
Meeting 3 Elected officials make a list of those killed during the genocide.
Meeting 4 Lists of those that lived in the area but were killed outside the area is compiled.
Meeting 5 Elected officials meet and make files of those victims requesting compensation.
Meeting 6 A list is compiled of those suspected of participating in the genocide. The suspects are asked to plead for forgiveness – give their testimonials of how they were involved. The moment someone confesses the punishment is decreased. The longer they wait before admitting guilt, the severer the punishment will be.
Meeting 7 The assembly court meets and arranges the files of the suspects. This meeting decides which category the suspects are placed in. There are four categories of accused:
Category One: The authors and planners of genocide, the supervisors and leaders (these will not be tried within the Gacaca system, but referred to the national judicial system)
Category Two: Those people who were perpetrators, conspirators or accomplices of intentional homicide or serious assault against a person - causing death. Rape is included in this category.
Category Three: People, who are guilty of other serious assaults against a person, but did not kill.
Category Four: Those who committed crime against property: looting etc.

Mr Munyurangabo explained that each court has a three-tier structure. There is the General Assembly, an Assembly Court and a Co-ordination Committee. The General assembly is made up of all the population of that sector who are above 18 years old. The Assembly Court is elected – 19 people (they have to be above 21 years old). They meet among themselves and elect 5 people: a president, two vice presidents and two secretaries – they comprise the Co-ordination Committee. The Co-ordination Committee then in turn elects a chairman and a secretary who hold a one year renewable mandate. They must know how to read and write.

These three key institutions – the General Assembly, Assembly Court and Co-ordination Committee will be replicated at the four levels of administration throughout Rwanda: at cell, sector, district and province level. The Gacaca courts at these administrative levels will have the following responsibilities:
Cell Jurisdiction Drawing up lists of victims and perpetrates of violations at the cell level; Receiving accusations and testimonies; Carrying out investigations; The carrying out of trials and sentencing for persons accused of offences in the fourth category. The accused in the fourth category do not have the right to appeal to a higher court; Forwarding case files to the Sector jurisdiction for accused in the first second and third categories.
Sector Jurisdiction Receiving case files from the cell level; Putting the accused into categories; Forwarding the files of those accused in the fourth category; Caring out trials and sentencing of accused in the third category.
District Jurisdiction Carrying out trials and sentencing those accused in the second category; Forwarding files of those accused of the first category of offences to the Office of the Public Prosecutor; Forwarding appeal cases to the province level.
Province Jurisdiction Receiving appeals from District level; Controlling District Jurisdiction activities.