The Creation and Operation of Gacaca Courts in Rwanda

After the genocide of 1990 - 1994, which had just claimed more than a million souls, thousands of people suspected of involvement in despicable acts of violence were arrested and provisionally detained so that those found criminally responsible could be tried and sentenced. Analyses of this state of affairs have estimated that it will take 200 years for all these people to be tried and sentenced, considering the pace at which trials are taking place. Faced with this challenge, the Government of National Unity, after lengthy consultations, decided to adopt the traditional Rwandan system of dispute resolution, commonly known as "GACACA", designed a priori to reconcile rather than punish or repress. This new dispute resolution system has been legalized, establishing a kind of penal code specialized in acts constituting the crime of Genocide. Wouldn't the Gacaca system, modelled on our traditional justice system, ultimately be less reconciliatory and therefore more repressive than ordinary justice, given the fear it inspires in the population under suspicion?