Diary From Rwanda: Day Two

Read Diary From Rwanda: Day One here

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."--Mahatma Ghandi

On Tuesday morning, we attend a live Gacaca court trial a half-hour drive from Kigali. Pronounced "ga-cha-cha," this community-based court system translates loosely into English as "justice on the grass." Before the trial, we attend a briefing session on the Gacaca system by Dennis Bikesha, the Director for Gacaca Training and Coordination in Kigali. Dennis tells us that the purpose of the Gacaca court is to try the category two and three offenses of murder, bodily injury, and property damage that occurred during the 1994 genocide. Those accused of category one crimes, which include planning and organizing the genocide and rape, or ordering rape, are tried elsewhere.

Prior to the genocide, the Gacaca system of justice was used only for family disputes. It has been modified due to the need to bring to justice the more than 100,000 prisoners that, as of 2000, clogged the traditional courts and prisons. Our interpreter notes, "Without Gacaca courts, it would take over one hundred years to try all of our prisoners."

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Comments

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

I can barely bring myself to read the articles, as the stories of atrocities towards humans horrify me to the bone. The graphic details of the abuse of women and children.... leave me perplexed as to how humans can be so cruel to each other, and even in this time of despair in our country, I can't imagine what it must be like to be a woman in Rwanda.

Rwanda is proof that not every culture has evolved and is sensitive to humanity...... and proof that there is no god....but only a society that, in an evolutionary process, destroys each other in the most horrific manner imaginable by the civilized world.

[MissingAmerica]

A must read to learn about the attrocities in Rwanda from the perspective of an amazing survivor is "Left to Tell" by Immaculee Ilibagiza. The attrocities persist. As much as we had no right to invade Iraq, we had a reponsibility to join forces with the UN and clean up this area. Rwanda is a shining example of mans' inhumanity to man.

[wanderingsalmon]

Another good read if you want to try to understand how something like Rwanda could happen is "Shake Hands With The Devil" by Romeo Dallair, who was the UN commander in Rwanda. One point that he makes is that the average caloric intake of Rwandans prior to the genocide was well below the level necessary to sustain health. I don't think genocide happens only in un-advanced societies...Nazi Germany was one of the most "advanced" cultures of it's time...they just had the technology to develop gas chambers as opposed to machetes. A hungry & deprived human is an animal looking for a scapegoat to focus his frustrations on, throw some power motivated propagandists into the mix, and you have the recipe for genocide. Genocide may well be an evolutionary means to address overpopulation and scarce resources...I don't know...but if you think your society is too advanced as to be immune from human nature, I think you're wrong.