Gacaca Jurisdictions in Practice
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Abstract
This chapter provides an overview concerning the daily practice of gacaca in order to verify to what extent the modus operandi of these courts corresponded to, and respected, their legal framework. Attention is paid to the phases of preparation of the gacaca courts, their launch and the training of the judges. Attention is also paid to the extent to which the non-compliance with human rights norms that grant a fair trial has jeopardized the gacaca experiment. The way in which the gacaca procedure has unfolded is consequently analysed in order to detect whether the participation of local communities and the gacaca judges have granted a fair trial in substantive terms. Also provided is an overview regarding the judgements delivered by gacaca courts covering their sentencing rationale. Room is devoted to child victims and perpetrators of genocide-related crimes as well as gender issues. Finally, relying on direct observation of gacaca practice, scholarly sources and accounts by NGOs, the main concerns regarding local ownership and administrative intrusion, truth-telling and respect for the procedures established by law are exposed.
Keywords
Pre-gacaca nyumbakumi ceceka kugura umusozi sentencing RPF crimes presumption of guilt cahier d’activitésReferences
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