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Key Text Penal Reform International Research on Gacaca Report

Author: Penal Reform International
Date: 2003
Size: 26 pages (298 KB)

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Summary

The confession procedure has become a cornerstone of the Rwandan judicial system in dealing with the genocide. How effective is it? What are the drawbacks? This report by Penal Reform International assesses the system and argues that while it is probably the best method of speeding up the judicial process, there is a danger that it can lead to a presumption of guilt rather than a presumption of innocence.

After the 1990 – 1994 genocide and massacres in Rwanda, more than 120,000 people accused of having played a part in the killings were put into prison. Changes in the penal laws authorised the detention of prisoners for a long period without a formal justification for detention. Indeed, many prisoners did not have files or had files that contained very few charges. In order to fix this irregularity the government forced itself to complete incomplete files. Different strategies were used to speed up the court process. The gacaca jurisdictions were set up to this end. They use the confession and the guilty plea procedure, which enables the accused to have a reduced sentence and to finish the second half of the sentence by performing Community service.

However, this procedure faces many challenges. One important problem is that it goes against Rwandan traditional law:

Confessing in front of the victims is considered an insult and a show of force. Indeed, the attitude of the prisoners is more one of arrogance than one of repentance.
Hence, few people come to give evidence apart from certain survivors and some prisoners in a hurry to get out of prison. In fact, only those who have strong family support may confess in front of their victim.
Revenge is carried out on the male members of the parental family of the delinquent. Normally the head of the family asks forgiveness in the name of the delinquent.

Encouragement to plead guilty could be detrimental to those prisoners who are innocent or who don’t have a case. However, on condition that one remains vigilant, plea-bargaining remains most probably the best available method for speeding up the genocide court cases. To this end, the Rwandan government should:

Carry out an awareness campaign, organise solidarity camps in which those released will spend the first two months, guarantee the safety of all and organise psychological counselling.
Check prisoners’ confessions carefully as the key to establishing the truth, which is a central objective of the gacaca jurisdictions.
Sensitise the population to prepare the way for the implementation of these decisions, which otherwise could appear as a form of impunity that many already denounce.
Pay particular attention to the situation of prisoners without files. Not releasing or not presenting these inmates to the population in order to collect information about their case could lead to a situation where inmates are considered guilty if they don’t confess.
Consider carefully the influence of these measures on the functioning of the gacaca and the Community Service. It is likely that these two mechanisms will be changed both in their functioning and objectives.

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Source: Penal Reform International, 2003, PRI Research on Gacaca Report, Report IV: January 2003
Author: Penal Reform International (PRI), http://www.penalreform.org