Rwanda | Huye: Gacaca courts in Rwanda to end soon
While an event to officially end Gacaca courts is due to happen on June 18th 2012, a week to prepare the closing of Gacaca courts was started on June 11th 2012 in Rwanda.
Boniface Niyibizi, in charge of local courts in Huye district, explains that gacaca courts for genocide participants ended in Rwanda but remaining are courts for the property destroyed during genocide.
In Huye, cases have been resolved at 81.7 percent whereby 36,250 property cases out of 44,367 have been judged.
While 8117 cases are not judged yet, it is estimated that fourteen sectors that make Huye district have up to 579 unfinished court cases each.
When asked on whether the cases will end in the defined time, Niyibizi explained that cases would not be many because sometimes you find 50 people will compensate one person. If they all respond immediately, the case can take two hours to end.
Another factor that delays the case is when the number of people to compensate is increased due to poor handwriting that is edited first.
Also, some Rwandans that claim their compensation live outside the country. In this case, judging their cases happens whenever they want to come back and get paid.
Others are not willing to pay even when capable or not. The local leadership will make the two parties meet, discuss with them and judge the cases accordingly.
Local leaders were asked to end Gacaca court cases remaining and to keep looking for information on 1994 Tutsi genocide victims’ bodies that have never been found.
