Transitional Justice In Rwanda

 

RWANDA

 

KHIN MAUNG SHWE

COORDINATOR, TJP of HREIB

Truth - Justice – Reconciliation - Peace  Historic

Background  After independent  Preparation for Genocide  ICTR / National Courts / Gacaca  Women role in TP  Relevance for Peace and Justice

What is Rwanda?           



Beautiful, small, landlocked Size: 26228 sq km Location: Uganda, DRC, Tanzania and Burundi Capital: Kigali and 10 other provinces, 106 districts Population: 8,440,820 million Official languages: Kinyarwanda, French and English Local language(s): Kinyarwanda Three ethnic groups: Twa (1%) Hutu ( 84%), Tutsi (15%) Tutsi- tall, slim, straight nose, long finger Hutu-stockier, broad nose, short finger Religious: Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% No one knows who got there first

Historic Background • • • • • • • •

Kingdom

Religious European colonial arrived with a racist world vision 1885 the Berlin conference agrees to make RuandaUrandi a German protectorate 1916 Belgian expel the German colonials 1920 Belgian colonizers took over admin; Tutsi collaborated in this colonization 1923 Ruanda-Urandi becomes a mandate territory of League of Nations (Belgian favor Tutsi) 1930, the identity cards that had been introduced by the Belgians 1945 Belgian mandate is to transfer power-UN Trusteeship 1957 Decolonization takes hold in Africa (Tutsi-Power) (Hutu-Democracy)

Beginning of a new political era  1950

The Tutsi King was assassinated in Burundi, upraising 15,000 Tutsi dead, thousand flee  1957: Hutu Manifesto  1959: Social Revolution, first killings of Tutsi (school, workplace, foreign employees expel)  1960: Communal elections won by parmehutu  1/7/1962: Independence (Gregoire Kayibanda)  1/12/1963: Tutsi attack & reach within 20 km of Kigali, Belgians help Hutu retreat to Burundi (20,000 massacring, 100,000 Refugees)

Previous Massacres  1963-64:

President sponsored an anti-Tutsi campaign (ten of thousand massacre, 300,000 refugees)

 1967:

renewed massacre of Tutsi (12,000) - UNHCR (300,000 refugee in Uganda, Burundi, Congo, Tanzania) - Belgian and Rwandian cover up info

 July

1968: National assembly (Parliamentary Investigation Commission)

 In

Burundi, Hutu are massacre by Tutsi in 1972

The First Phrase 1973-75 Relief & Euphoria  July

5th 1973 Coup (North Hutu) of Gen. Habyamana, chief of staff (Peace & Reconciliation without talking with resistance groups), and (not only would Tutsis be excluded from power, but also any Hutu who had been infected by Tutsis  Quotas for ethnic & regions (policy) Tutsis (9)%, North group satisfied, South ousted from dominant position  Habyarimana argued (refugee had to stay in neighboring country because of full up  Armed forces from 5,000 to 35,000  1975 system of social & political policy “ Mouvement Re’volutionnaire National Pourle De’veloppement (MRND)

The Second Phrase 1975-86 Political & social control Economics expansion



1978 A new constitution was promulgated



1974-82 Economic growth



Organized his own fiercely loyal militia (Interahamwe)criminal organization Income from robbing and looting Youths joined Paid much more than other gainful or hope employment French trained Presidential Guard

   

The Third Phrase 1986-90 Economic crisis & Erosion of power 1984-89 economics crisis- more employees unemployed  Family of Habyaimana (wife), akazu, a small hut, concentrate (power)  World Bank blocked all funds 

1986 Tutsis ex-NRA officers formed the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)  1990, 1500-strong RPF invaded 

The Fourth Phrase 1990- until Genocide  July

5th 1990, President announces initiative dialogue  Sep 1st 1990 a group of 33 intellectuals demand multiparty document (MDR, PSD, PL, PDC)  Oct 1st 1990 RPF launches from Uganda  RPF with military assistance of France, halt (guerrilla war)  Gov’t reacts by imprisoning (8,000)  Two major demonstrations (Nov 17th 1991, Jan 8th 1992) (30,000-100,000)  Apr 16th 1992 President Dismas Nsengiyaremye elected (MDR-MRND) Interim gov’t (to negotiate with RPF, to ensure internal security, to organize general election)

Preparation for and/ or Genocide            

Hard line – MRND, CDR- Opposition – MDR, PSD, PL MRND-propaganda Campaign ethnic hatred (Radio Television des Milles Collines-RTML) Well armed equip by French, trained in USA 1993 Opposition party split from Interim gov’t Aug 1993- Arusha Peace Accord The panga- a small machete imported from China-mazu Apr 6th 1994 President’s plane is shot down with 3 hand-launched heat-seeking missiles (French made) near Kigali airport President Guard distributed weapons: death list (moderate Hutu e.g; President of the constitutional court), after one hour-President’s death The first day (intellectuals, HRts activists, journalists,-) PM Agathe Uwilingiyamana guarded by 10 Belgians soldiers Apr 7th-July 4th (800,000 Tutsi + political moderate Hutu, 200,000 Hutu) July 4th RPF seized power (2 million Hutu-Congo) Installed a provisional gov’t consisting of 2 Hutus & 1 Tutsi

Aug 1993- Arusha Peace Accord Commission of National Unity and National Reconciliation ( Established by Presidential order)  12   

members were appointed by President

Sensitize Rwandans on National Unity Promote reconciliation Sensitize Rwandans on their rights

Propaganda

 The

media participated in a “structured attempt to use media to influence awareness, attitude, or behavior”.  Funded by Hutu extremists

Print  Newspaper

(back to hill or home)  66 % can read  11 of 42 journals founded in 1991  Kangura (voice of hate) “the voice that seeks to awake and guide the majority people  Cartoon, articles (a cockroach cannot give birth to a butterfly) in March 1993  The ten commandments published in 1990

Radio (“Cut the Tall Trees”)  29%

to 58.7% of household had radios  Gov’t distributed radios free  Only one radio station owned by Habyarimana’s in law (Radio Rwanda, Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines- RTLM) 8 a.m to 11 a.m  To prepare the people of Rwanda for genocide.  You cockroaches must know you are made of flesh! We won’t let you kill! We will kill you.  Stand up, take action… without worrying about Int’l opinion  RPF bombed, continued broadcast from armored car

Gender Propaganda  “social

construction of permeable boundaries between ethnic groups… nations of racial purity  Marriage- Tutsi women & Hutu men were legally Hutu  Tutsi women as enemies of the State  Tutsi women were more beautiful and desirable, but inaccessible to Hutu men whom allegedly looked down upon and were too good for.  Sexual positions (prostitutes)

Four commandments in December, 1990 First Every Hutu should know that a Tutsi woman, wherever she is, work for the interest of her Tutsi ethnic group. As a result, we shall consider a traitor any Hutu who: marries a Tutsi woman; befriends a Tutsi woman; employs a Tutsi woman as a secretary or concubine.

Second Every Hutu should know that our Hutu daughters are more suitable and conscientious in their role as woman, wife and mother of the family. Are they not beautiful, good secretaries and more honest?

Third Hutu woman, be vigilant and try to bring your husbands, brothers and son back to reason. Fourth The Rwandese Armed Forces should be exclusively Hutu. The experience of the October 1990 war was has taught us a lesson. No number of the military shall marry a Tutsi.

Recount statements of their violators such as  We

want to see how sweet Tutsi women

are.  You Tutsi women think that you are too good for us.  We want to see if a Tutsi woman is like a Hutu woman.  If there were peace you would never accept me.

Sexual violence  15,700

women  250,000 to 500,000 rapes numbers  2000-5000 pregnancy  Suicide  70% of the women raped during the genocide are HIV-positive  13.5% of the Rwandan population living with HIV/AIDS  500,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and requiring triple therapy, only 7000

1. Types of sexual violence  

  



The violation of Tutsi women was not a casualty of war But a step in the process of the deconstruction of the Tutsi group– destruction of the spirit of the will to live, and of life itself Interahamwe forced them into collective and individual sexual slavery, mutilated them The victim ranged from two years old to over fifty year Pregnant women or women who had recently given birth were not spared; their rapes frequently resulted in death from hemorrhaging and other medical complications Forced to kill their own children before or after being raped

Women Perpetrator

 5,500  3442

women in 1997 (5%)

of 108215 imprisoned in 2001 (2.3 %)

Rwanda Patriotic Front’s massacre

 25,000

to 45,000 from April through August of 1994  Tanzanian border refugee camp killing  RPF soldiers in Gacaca court

What is the result?

 400,000

widows  500,000 orphans  130,000 imprisoned  70-72 % women in population  2 Millions Hutu refugee in Congo

6000 orphanages in Kigali alone

Family without Parent

Orphans & Detainees

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)  set

up 8 of November 1994 after genocide, UN security Council (Resolution 955)

 Purpose 

 

Jan1-Dec 31, 1994, to investigate the crimes for genocide & other serious violation of inte’l humanitarian law- Rwanda & neighbor countries to contribute to process of national reconciliation, maintenance of peace – to replace culture impunity

Composition of ICTR ICTR (16)

Trail (3)

Trail (3)

Trail (3)

Appeals Chamber (5)

Composed of Judges elected by the General Assembly- Security Council The Judges are elected for a term for four years 16 Independent judges Prosecutor appointed UN-security Council on 15 Sept 2003  9 Ad Litem judges (maximum 4 attached to the Trial Chambers)

Judges in Order of Precedence Name

Country of Origin

Chamber

1.

Judge Charles Michael Dennis Byron

St. Kitts & Nevis

President ICTR Member, Trial Chamber III

2.

Judge Khalida Rachid Khan

Pakistan

Vice-President ICTR Presiding Judge, Trial Chamber III

3.

Judge Fausto Pocar

Italy

Presiding Judge, Appeals Chamber

4.

Judge William Sekule

United Republic of Tanzania

Presiding Judge, Trial Chamber II

5.

Judge Erik Møse

Norway

Presiding Judge Trial Chamber I

6.

Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen

Guyana

Member, Appeals Chamber

7.

Judge Mehmet Güney

Turkey

Member, Appeals Chamber

8.

Judge Liu Daqun

China

Member, Appeals Chamber

9.

Judge Andrésia Vaz

Senegal

Member, Appeals Chamber

10.

Judge Theodor Meron

United States

Member, Appeals Chamber

11.

Judge Wolfgang Schomburg

Germany

Member, Appeals Chamber

12.

Judge Arlette Ramaroson

Madagascar

Member, Trial Chamber II

13.

Judge Jai Ram Reddy

Fiji

Member, Trial Chamber I

14.

Judge Sergei Alekseevich Egorov

Russian Federation

Member, Trial Chamber I

15.

Judge Inés Mónica Weinberg de Roca

Argentina

Member, Trial Chamber III

16.

Judge Joseph Asoka Nihal De Silva

Sri Lanka

Member, Trial Chamber II

Ad Litem Judges 17.

Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa

Uganda

Member, Trial Chamber II

18.

Judge Lee Gacugia Muthoga

Kenya

Member, Trial Chamber II

19.

Judge Florence Rita Arrey

Cameroun

Member, Trial Chamber III

20.

Judge Emile Francis Short

Ghana

Member, Trial Chamber II

21.

Judge Taghrid Hikmet

Jordan

Member, Trial Chamber II

22.

Judge Seon Ki Park

Republic of Korea

Member, Trial Chamber II

23.

Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam Burkina Faso

Member, Trial Chamber III

24.

Judge Robert Fremr

Czech Republic

Member, Trial Chamber III

25.

Judge Vagn Joensen

Denmark

Member, Trial Chamber III

Budget and Staff 

The Total Budget US$246,890,000 for 20062007

 Authorized  85

1,042 posts

nationalities ( Arusha, Kigali, the Hague and New York)

Status of Cases  Cases

in progress (29 cases)  Awaiting Trial (6 Cases)  Completed Cases (27 Cases)  Cases on Appeal (6 Cases)  Transferred to National Jurisdiction (1 Case)  Detainees Acquitted (5)  Detainees Released (3 Cases)  Deceased (3)

Witness Support & Protection o o

o o

The section was established in 1996. Providing impartial support and protection service. All witness and victims called to testify. The following three service are being provided (1. assistance to witnesses and victims, 2. protection of witnesses, 3. medical care in support of witnesses and victims

The United Nations Detention Facility (UNDF) 

established in 1996



10 Kilometres from Tribunal’s HQs in Arusha, Tanzanian



International Prison standards (89 individual cells, a kitchen, medical facilities, library, a classroom & a gymnasium)

 

61 detainees Benin (23), Mali, Swaziland, France, Sweden and Italy

Detainees on Trial Awaiting Trial Awaiting Transfer Pending Appeal Total Detainees in Arusha Serving Sentences Total Detainees

29 6 14 6 55 6 61

Acquitted

5

Released

3

Died

2

Case Transferred to National Jurisdiction

1

Number of accused whose cases have been completed

33

Number of Judgments rendered after appeal judgment

27

Total Arrests

72

National Courts & Category Planners, organizers, instigators, supervisors, leaders of genocide (confession before 200525Y)- death penalty 2. Perpetrators, intentional, serious assaults resulting in death (25-30)-(12-15) (3-5) 3. Committed serious but non-lethal assaults 4. Crimes against property (100,000 suspects awaiting trails, 6,000 cases complete, 6,500 people convicted, 700 have received death sentences, 23 executed) 1.

Gacaca Court (grassy space) GACACA COURTS initiative is very timely because it will make the following possible:

      

To enable the truth to be revealed about Genocide and crimes against Humanity in Rwanda. To speed up the trials of those accused of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and other crimes. To put an end to the culture of impunity in Rwanda. To reconcile the people of Rwanda and strengthen ties between them. To revives traditional forms of dispensing justice based on Rwandese culture. To demonstrates the ability of local communities to solve their own problems. To helps solve some of the many problems caused by Genocide.

Organization and powers of the Gacaca Courts Judges  The judges of the GACACA Courts will be respectable people of at least 21 years of age, and elected by people of voting age. They will take responsibility for e nsuring orderly and fair proceedings. (35%-42%) The Functional Hierarchies of the Gacaca Courts are as follows:  The General Assembly  The Court Council  The Coordination Committee

The Structure of the Gacaca Tribunals in Rwanda Level

Number Competence

Observations

Province 12

To judge appeals for category II crimes

The competence of gacaca tribunals to judge appeals for category II crimes, which carry a life sentence, has been controversial. Many believe such appeals should be heard before a formal tribunal

District

106

To judge category II crimes To judge appeals for category III crimes

Category II crimes were the major category in the traditional gacaca system, covering 80% of all cases

Sector

1,531

To judge category III crimes To judge appeals for category IV crimes

It is likely that there will be few category III crimes

Cell

9,189

To categorize the accused To list dam ages To judge category IV crimes

With respect to the categorization of crimes, a major innovation is the classification of rape as a category I cr ime, and therefore outside the scope of the gacaca trib unals The penalty for category IV crimes is restitution n ot imprisonment

Why Gacaca is to succeed ?

 It

will depend upon Rwanda’s women  The majority of survivors  The majority of witnesses  Women’s testimony

Peace Building 

 



 



Participating as a member of the negotiating team for the 1993 Arusha peac e accords produced a power-sharing agreement designed to end Rwanda’s civil war Integrating peace and reconciliation components into school curricula, as well a s into religious, NGO, and gov’t programs Conducting sensitization sessions on Rwanda’s May 2003 constitution as a mem ber of the Forum of Women Parliamentaria ns Mobilizing women to run for political office Encouraging both single-identity workshops and cross-community initiatives that promote understanding between Tutsis and Hutus Educating, counseling, and rehabilitating survivors of the genocide.

Transition & The Role of Women

Statue Celebrating Women, downtown

Representatives in Parliament During Transition Period

Key finding  Following

parliamentary elections in 2003, women hold nearly 50 % of seats  During the post-genocide transition years, innovative mechanisms were created that enabled women’s participation in leadership structure at all levels  At national grassroots levels, Rwandan women have been at the forefront of post-genocide recovery and reconciliation  Women in gov’t have developed models for working across party and ethnic lines and strengthening partnerships with civil society

The Fonds d'aide aux rescapés du génocide (FARG) [genocide survivors' assistance fund]   

  

Victim support provided by the Rwandan government is estimated at 5% of its national annual budget the FARG covers several basic needs, including providing schooling for orphans and lodging for widows only 4000 persons were prosecuted and judged, the Rwandan courts granted close to US$100 million in damages to victims 66.7% of the 491 cases of trauma, illness and other consequences of the rapes were HIV/AIDS-related Out of the 491 women who had serious sequelae, 327 were HIV-positive Of the 18 interviews conducted, 13 women were with mothers who had children before the genocide, one had just given birth, two were young single women and two were minors at the time of the genocide.

Commemoration     

Last Saturday, Rwanda began an official national week of mourning to commemorate the 1994 genocide. Nightclubs are closed, flags are being flown at half-staff, and National Radio is playing traditional mourning music. Launching an initiative to have the UN formally declare April 2004 Rwanda Genocide Remembrance Month The United Nations has now declared April 7th as the "International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda."

Relevance for Peace & Justice

 Never

again  Evolution of political & legal accountability  Cooperation of Africa countries  Enforcement of prison sentences  Political, moral and material support

Acronyms           

Government of National Unity (GNU) Republican Democratic Movement (MDR) Minister of Gender & Women in Development (MIGEPROFE) National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) National Unity & Reconciliation Commission (NURC) Centrisemocratic Party (PDC) Liberal Party (PL) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Rwandan Socialist Party (PSR) Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)