Humorously told by Nyakiya Eston Ochieng (Participant from Kenya)
From day one, we looked into various components of this misfortune called genocide. We began by dissecting the concept of cross-cultural understanding and dialogue as the fundamental tenets on which prevention and resolution of conflict are based, visited the Gisozi (Kigali) Memorial site where over 250,000 victims of the genocide are buried, Came back, I think we ate, slept and woke up the following morning to begin our study, debates, discussions, deliberations and sessions on the stages of Genocide. My Burundian Colleague, a renowned blogger, Ms. Floriane Niyungeko, captured this so well in her blog post and to those of you who have been lucky enough to read her works, I hope her lucid explanations are not here in this piece overstated.
Through the schedule, we screened and discussed the “Ghosts of Rwanda” film clips as was captured in an earlier blog by DJ. Kambada Alex of Rwanda; a scholar and respected Mediator. (For clarity) He is not a cousin of the now imprisoned former Prime Minister- Kambada. We also had a session with CNLG- the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide, talked to the Director of Memory and Prevention of Genocide, asked questions, got answers-mostly directed to our Presidents and returned to the Hotel just in time to consume lunch and thereafter did a SWOT analysis on the Commission. Attorney Ssekandi, a Ugandan National, poet, writer and fellow erudite, captured this on his blog.
Then came the 1st day of 2014, in which we ate, danced and shared our stories. I also doubt if I did not sleep, for I remember yawning the following morning as I left my bed for breakfast. Ms. Merveill Kavira, the Honorable Delegate from DRC, has written volumes about this and made it available for future references in the Organization’s official page. Of Course with pictorial evidence which in the normal verisimilitude of modesty would summon a huge frown from my beloved grandmother, but thanks to the gods-she has until now remained hesitant to acquaint herself with basic IT nuggets, necessary for consumption of information in a digital world.
Hey! Enough of the recap! Not so?
Now it is my honour to share a summary of what occurred between the births of 2014 to when we arrived from Murambi. I Nyakiya, a humble servant of God, an upcoming husband and a human being, shall now take the floor and perform my duty.
From Thursday 2nd January to Saturday 3rd January 2014 we scrutinized the subject matter of Transitional Justice. After an introduction by Madame Betty- our facilitator, we developed a problem tree to explore the aftermath of genocide, its history, prevention and legal consequences. We then watched the film, “Long Coat”, got a presentation from Mr. Eduard Bamporiki then later another presentation from the Country Director of AEGIS Trust Mr.Freddy Mutanguha. The series of very informative presentations was closed by Mr.Kamanzi Innocent the ICTR Information Officer (Rwanda)
We tackled the subject matter of the aftermaths of genocide, its legal consequences and approaches of attaining justice for victims and survivors. We also studied the Gacaca Courts- their composition, mandate, effectiveness and the lessons from their operation to Rwanda and the world. We watched “Long Coat”, films by ICTR on the Gacaca sessions (successes and challenges), discussed the films and made recommendations. We also delved into the subject matter of Conflict dynamics and peace building and discussed conflict sensitivity and peace building. Later in the evening, we enjoyed a guided tour of Kigali town during which we saw very many things; among them the beautiful people of Rwanda, the very clean roadways and attractively green public gardens–We also saw a notice at Nakummat Supermarket about one dreaded thief who apart from being at large, was dangerous to the society and so, the society was somewhat advised to ‘scamper to safety’ whenever and wherever they could have seen him
Sunday morning, the 8th of January, we left Bellagio Hotel and headed for Nyanza in the Southern part of Rwanda, we visited the King’s Palace where we learnt about the king’s main house, the milk and beer houses of the ‘original’ kingdom, met the shepherds who sang to and moved through lyrics into a jig- the Inyambo breed of cattle (a reserve for the palace). We also visited the Modern palace of the Rwanda kingdom, built in 1932 and headed lastly by King Kigeri Ndahindurwa, the younger brother of King Mutara III Rudahigwa. We had a good tour of the palace, signed the visitors’ book (I personally signed below some Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister who had visited the previous day) as a reminder to future visitors that we arrived there before them. It will be wantonly silly I don’t mention the memorable stopover for Lunch at Boomerang Hotel before we headed for Butare, but stopping over for a session with a community group in Mukara Sector (Save). They welcomed us with a dance and an organized hand clapping which I have since then, christened as ‘Senorita’, we joined the dances, observed preliminary routines of introductions then settled for serious business as we listened to the testimonies of a former perpetrator (now forgiven and accepted and useful to the society), a transformed former rebel and a mother whose 3 out of four children and the husband were murdered. We learnt how the community is struggling to foster peace, empower themselves and confront the post-genocide era, asked questions, got answered, stood up, danced for the last time, paused for a group photo and left for the Bus after promising in one accord that the dark history should never again find a repeat in our society.
At about 1730hrs the same day, we checked in at St. Vincent motel (my room was very importantly, the biggest), had dinner, danced and slept. Oh sorry, we also had ‘drinks’ (Many thanks to Alex, Kessy and Ssekandi who are the only ones mandated to explain how rooms, in this particular occasion- gave birth to Konyagi). Morning came. Breakfast was attacked without apologies and after some forty minutes we were taking a walk to the Ethnographic Museum of Rwanda. At the museum we learnt about the history of the kingdom of Rwanda which had originally included parts of Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi, read the history of their traditional education system, agriculture, warfare, economy- Also ‘The drum’ (alternately called ndankurwanda and Ndanguburundi by the people of Burundi and Rwanda respectively during wars). We saw the ‘peace baskets’, the king’s carriage and the contents of a king’s tomb which was excavated in Gaseke in 1969. Walked out, giggled for photo sessions (regulated by comrade John from Germany), watched wonderful session of traditional dance and then left for the hotel for lunch but not before addressing the nation via local media. Lunch was good and after a short schedule of psychological preparedness, we set off for the Murambi Genocide Memorial Center.
Through a dedicated aid of an attendant, we listened to the political history of Rwanda, systematic planning of Genocide with examples in 1959, 1972-1973 and finally culminating into the horrible memories of the 1994 heartbreaking bloodshed. We went through the architecture of the genocide ideology, from the pan-hutu mindset, anti-Tutsi proclamations, through to the killing of about 20,000 Tutsi’s by April 19994 in the region , responsibility of the French soldiers in training the militias and how the areas they controlled turned into sanctuaries of death. Elimination of the Tutsis and the final end of the genocide through a liberation front headed by then Gen. Paul Kagame of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) and Now the Democratically elected President of the Peoples’ Republic of Rwanda. We sadly learnt that by the end of the genocide, about 1.2 people, mostly innocent civilians had been savagely murdered.
We saw a mass grave from which about 8000 bodies had been exhumed, the current mass grave hosting the mutilated bodies and 24 rooms, hosting 1000 dead bodies, including one of a man who was buried alive, a woman who suffered rape before her sad death, a child who tried to hide her face from the killers thinking she would escape but sadly, never did and the many other dead bodies, each holding in their stillness, a story of betrayal by fellow countrymen, a tale of tears that met blind eyes and cries that did not move the deaf hearts of the killers.
For personal reasons, I shall stop this narration here for I do not want to remind both myself and my readers that on this very place where thousands of innocent people-whose only offence was the Tutsi tag-were killed, is now hosting bodies of some of the children who would have grown to attend this would-be Technical school. I do not want to mention that after these people were buried in the mass graves that were dug by the government caterpillars, the French soldiers manning the station at that time, decided to cooperate with the militias and instead of defending the helpless, leveled the soils of the mass grave and made a volleyball pitch on top of thousands of dead people.
These were tearing experiences and since my good friend, a flamboyant politician and gallant son of Tanzanian, Mr. Francis Kessy, has told this story before, let me just conclude that after all these, we needed some internal peace for each of us before we drove back to Huye, had the last dinner at St. Vincent Hotel, slept (I missed somebody) and woke up the following day to take breakfast then left peacefully for an awaiting lunch at Bellagio Hotel on Tuesday. Please note that on our way back, apart from the fishponds, green houses and rice plantations that we saw, we also met the Nyabarongo River on which murdered victims of the genocide had floated into Lake Victoria to feed the fish and aquatic animals of the lake. It was painful and very sad, but we learnt, swore never to be used in violence. We arrived in Bellagio Hotel, more prepared to be peace builders than ever before.
By Kawala Asha (Participant from Uganda)
Hello now far-flung PBI 2013/14 family,
It was a roller-coaster two weeks at PBI, wasn’t it? For me so much has changed so quickly that I surely won’t do it justice in a brief letter, but…
Anyway, I am back home and I have something REALLY special to give; thanks for the opportunity that Never Again Rwanda gave me to actually KNOW Rwanda…the wealth of knowledge from especially our facilitator Betty Mutesi…the new invaluable friendships etc!!!! I feel a new sense of passion to continue contributing to Conflict Resolution and Peace building.
The friendship connections are exciting as well – there is so much potential for positive change and I want to become more involved. I came to PBI to learn a set of skills and strategies. Not only did the training surpass my expectations in this regard but also made me leave with a deeper understanding of my passions and where I can make my contribution in this world.
Does anyone remember that tiny Peace Basket we saw at the Ethnographic Museum in Huye? I can not stop thinking about how such a small basket actually has been used to bond genocide perpetrators and victims. The story that most of the development ideas that have been successfully implemented in Rwanda were actually ideas got from Uganda (but applied better) stirred me up! The reconciliation tools; The Gacaca courts success stories, the medical insurance, the Umuganda and other such local reconciliation tools were all so encouraging.
Ronald and I spent time (while we returned home) negotiating on how to start on the peace project. We both are busy until end of month; me with school and himself with some work at his NGO. School for me started but I chose to spend sometime with my family yesterday… I missed them a lot! So I am back to school today; I have exams next week and I am so excited that I learnt a lot about reconciliation during the training; I will be sitting for an exam on Peace and Reconciliation as well as Conflict Analysis and Transformation sometime next week and I look forward to scoring ‘A’s. Lol!
And, just before I get so busy, I have had to make sure this reaches you. Each of you has shared part of your lives with me in some way over the past two weeks at PBI, and now I reflect that I am a better person in so many ways. Getting to know you has been one of the best parts of the PBI experience. Even though we only met two weeks ago, I somehow feel as if we’ve been friends all our lives.
I’ve learned so much during the two weeks at the PBI. I’ve grown both personally and professionally, and I attribute much of this growth to you amazing people and the awesome opportunity that Never Again Rwanda and the PBI provided me. So, I thought that instead of sending out the usual obligatory “It’s been great…” email, I’d share with you a few life lessons I’ve learned from all of you during my time in Rwanda.
So to each of you, here are my personalized notes of farewell:
To Tandi, Grace, Assouman and all at Never Again Rwanda; what can I say? I get lost for words honestly. You made our time at PBI such a marvelous experience! Thank you for the awesome facilitators especially Betty!! Thank you for the beautiful opportunity you gave us to not only increase on our knowledge but also get to meet and make new like minded friends. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to say thank you!
James, thank you for always asking about how I was doing, and actually wanting to hear the answer. Hahahhahaha. You were such a friend! I swear I am going to come to Dar-es-Salaam for that wedding when the time comes. Please send her my regards. Ooh by the way I didn’t get some of those documents (the soft copies hahahaha). Could you please email them to me?
To Merveille, I think you are the special angel sent by God, as my friend and I will keep you safe with me forever.
To Sarah, You were always great company; from the lovely tea breaks to the long hour schedules. For me, you are a beautiful Kenyan sister whose beautiful smile I would love to see again again.
To Gabriella, I had a really good time with you. It was your promptness; positive attitude and swift cooperation that always helped us finish that group work/discussions efficiently and on time. It was lovely working with you in our Group I. I am happy I am going to meet you and John again in Kampala.
To the Nyangamugayo Ronald (I hope you are by the way hahahahahha), It is rare that one finds a good friend in just two weeks. To me, you are another Ugandan brother I found in Rwanda. Thanks for being that wonderful person who was always checking on me, waking me up and finding out whether I had had breakfast, lunch etc.
To Liesse, even though we didn’t talk that much, I enjoyed your company the little times we got to interact.
Wilson and Diane, thank you for always creating time whenever Sarah, Kelvin and I wanted to move around your beautiful city. You are such darlings! God bless you
To Nyakiya, you became a friend and even an inspiration in so many ways (iish iish, so don’t brag about it) lol! I think you are so brilliant, you are a good speaker and again, I do not know what I am going to do without your jokes. You made the whole thing soooo fun!
To Francis, It is amazing how work in group 1 became fun with you, especially the times you discussed on our behalf (and out of the blue asked each of the group members to stand and clarify on the points hahahaha). I will also forever remember your dance strokes. Thank you for conversations, the smiles, inside jokes, and memories. You are such a happy guy. Can I be you sister please? hahahhahaha
To Floriane, I was serious when I always said remember me when you become president of Burundi someday. Lady, you are so focused! I admire the almost tangible love you have for your country! I so much loved listening to you passionately talking about the mischief going on there and the solutions you always thought would help save the situation. That is the spirit!!
To Kelvin, you were always so kind, humble and innocent-iiish until Alex played the evening music or suggested you go out; I admired your fun loving character that came out mostly in the evenings. heheheh
To Alex, Thanx for making our evenings less boring by playing the good music you always did by the pool side. How you always managed to mean business when it was time for that and joked when the time for jokes came struck me!! And thanks too for the PBI blog idea by the way.
To Hero, guy I think you are so cool headed. And thanks for some times chipping in with Luganda with me; you have no idea how much that made me feel at home. hahahhahahah!
Pife, thank you for your wisdom especially during the discussions. I know you will bring peace to Bukavu.
I will miss all of you a lot. Thank you for being awesome people. It is these funny little things that kept us together. Let us be in touch and keep our bond intact.
Feel free to call, IM, email, snailmail, or stop by for dinner anytime any of you is in UG. I look forward to staying in touch and helping and sharing more about our quests for Regional Peace.
I hope we’ll keep our friendship going. And oh how I’d love us to get to spend time together as a team again. Until then, let’s try to keep in touch!
God bless you, and I’ll talk to each one of you soon!
By Wilson Muhirwa (Participant from Rwanda)
The day began with a drive to parliament in the middle of Kigali town. We were received by the Public Relations Officer who took us on a guided tour of the National Parliament of Rwanda which is comprised of two Chambers; Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies is comprised of 80 Deputies voted through adult suffrage while the Senate comprises of 26 Senators elected by organizations, councils and the president. He took us through the different powers, duties and responsibilities of each individual house.
It was interesting to see especially the Lower House of Parliament which in true memoriam spirit of Rwanda has been maintained with bullet holes incurred during the war between government of Rwanda and RPF soldiers.
In the Senate, we met the President/Speaker of the Senate who interacted with us about Rwanda’s democracy. “We are not pretending to say that everything we have done is perfect, but we want it to be perfect” he noted. “We want Rwandan people to feel free and to be proud of being Rwandan” He stressed the separation of powers to any government and he noted that the government of National Unity had put in place many measures to ensure that. He also told us how the Senate was a Chamber of reflection, analysts of the whole life of Rwanda…”
We drove back to Bellagio Hotel for our lunch and afterwards, with the guidance of Dr. Abui Ismael discussed the various aspects of good governance and development in view of our respective government while drawing experiences from Rwanda. Later on, we presented our results from the group work before wrapping up the day.
By James Mwala (Participant from Tanzania)
This day was dedicated to the topic of Good Governance and Development and we had Dr. Judith Baessler from GIZ Civil Peace Service came in to handle the subject of “Understanding Violence” She kicked off by asking us “What makes nice people become murderers?” and in group work we came up with various answers that included; life challenges such as poverty, duress, ignorance, human nature, culture/socialization, rewards, inequalities in society, self defense, bad leadership/governance, need to belong/peer pressure, paranoia among others.
We looked at Gil Courtemanche quotation which stated “Each of us carries within ourselves all good and bad that humanity is capable” Through this, we were able to understand how masses of good people can be influenced to commit unimaginable atrocities.
Dr. Judith introduced us to Milgram’s Obedience Study which was a major psychological landslide in trying to define human nature. “There is something in human nature that makes us do things…” Milgram noted that once people are put into situation, they tend to act differently. “The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act” Stanley Milgram noted.
In Milgram’s experiment, the voice that commanded the participants was of authority and promised the participants that he would take responsibility for what they did. This gave them confidence to ahead with what they were planning to do.
Dr. Judith further explained the “Foot in the door” effect whereby in trying to get someone’s consent, one begins by obtaining a smaller “yes”. This is basically to establish interest after which it is easier to gain consent. “People tend to comply more readily with a large request if they have already agreed with a smaller favour”
“Obedience is one crucial thing that makes people do things” We went ahead to discuss whether obedience was a good thing or a bad thing and Dr. Judith noted that blind obedience has a risk connected to it. “You do what I tell you to do because I have authority over you and you do not question…”
We also looked at the Stanford Prison Experiment by Dr. Phillip Zambardi who randomly got two groups of people and gave them different role; being prisoner and being prison guards. The guards wore silver sunglasses and uniforms as a sign of power while the prisoner were chained and locked up to remind them of their loss of freedom. The experiment was meant to last 14 days but within the first few days, conditions quickly detoriated. “The guards knew the prisoners had done nothing wrong but because of the environment, they believed that they had done something wrong…” After only 6 days, the experiment was shut down. The experiment showed how power changes people. “When we gain power, our personality tends to change” and “Roles we play in life influence our character” “The more the power, the more likelihood of abuse”
Finally Dr. Judith introduced us to the “Just world hypothesis” by Melvin Lerner (1965) which stated that people have a deep seated need to protect a belief that the world in general I a fair, safe and predicable place” People do not suffer underserved misfortunes and good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. People deserve what happens to them. Dr. Judith said that “We still have to believe it anyway despite knowing its wrong because if we do not, we lose our optimism”
In the afternoon, we drove to Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) where we discussed how economic growth can support democratic participation. Through RGB, the government of Rwanda has been able to check itself on various development indicators and set goals for the country’s development.
Quite a long and informative day!
By Musau Sarah (Participant from Kenya)
This was our last day in Butare and we packed our bags preparing to return to Kigali.
We held a short debrief with Never Again Rwanda Programs Director, Tandi sharing our experiences especially from the trip to Murambi Genocide Memorial centre. Many of the participants expressed their shock at the gross inhumanity that was expressed by radical Hutus on the Tutsis people during the 1994 Genocide. There was also commitment on our part to ensure that we should work to fight the occurrence of such an incident in our communities. Some of the participants were still in shock and faced some bit of trauma basing on the site at Murambi.
The drive back to Kigali started and I would like to quote a facebook update of Ssekandi Ronald Ssegujja from Uganda where he talks about the experience;
“Huye District is set in Southern Rwanda; hilly, green and well cultivated. From here you can see many of the thousand hills that make this land roll and wind down until they disappear in the horizon. The sun sets so beautifully you would think you have been teleported to the biblical Garden of Eden.
My dear, Murambi Genocide Memorial is set on one of these hills. It is strategically located in a valley of sorts and surrounded by many other hills. This beautiful hill was turned into a slaughter house by the merciless genociders in 1994 where they massacred thousands of people. When you see the corpses lying in the various rooms of what was meant to be a school; you feel ashamed of human nature. You are dead block shocked at how such hatred could have been conceived. When you walk to the volleyball ground that was constructed by the French soldiers on top of a mass grave to conceal the killings; your mind goes blank. You just can’t imagine such an act by men. You just can’t!!!
Now you are on the road from Murambi and on the way you meet clans of people going about their business, you see households being rebuilt, you see children playing together on the roadsides and once in a while you meet households with the blue, yellow and green flag of the new Rwanda flying proudly up. You feel proud; you flash a smile and feel hope and optimism welling up inside you. You see the rolling hills once again; green, cultivated and beautiful. The wind from outside brushes on you and you feel renewed.
Kampala, I am proud of you. When this nation needed allies, you were there! Tonight, I would have sat outside and bid you company….only if I was there.
May the sun rise tomorrow”
Back in Kigali, we retired to our rooms since we had a free afternoon.
By Francis Kessy (Participant from Tanzania)
Our stay in Huye District continues and we woke up to a bright and sunny start characterized by pure Rwandan serenity. First on the agenda was a visit to Institute of National Museums of Rwanda which was nearby.
We toured the museum which had a wide range of knowledge about Rwanda as a country, its history and traditions. We were able to go through the long range of knowledge at display guided by a very enthusiastic guide who left no stone unturned.
After the tour of the museum, we had a chance to watch a traditional dance performed by a dance troupe. This was very exciting and majority of us joined in. It was interesting to see the close relationship the dance style had to the cattle keeping tradition of the Rwandan people. The music and songs too were reflective of the general message that called for unity and reconciliation among Rwandan people.
In the afternoon, we received a clinical psychologist at the lodging in St. Vincent who was to prepare us for the visit to Murambi Genocide memorial. This particular sight was loathed because it is one of the places where the bodies of massacred Tutsi have been preserved in their original state and this experience is particularly hard for many people. We did a couple of drills that helped us learn how to deal with emotions.
The drive to Murambi was characterized by an unusual silence; perhaps out of fear of the unknown. Along the way, we saw similar sights of households on the road, farmland and farm people cultivating crops such as rice. Occasionally we chanced upon kids playing on roadside or a tired traveler who gave way for our bus to pass.
At Murambi Genocide Memorial, we came to learn that this site was meant to be a Technical school that would open in September 1994 but had been turned into a killing place by the government of Rwanda and France due to its strategic location. Murambi hill is located in a valley surrounded by many other hills. It is a “trap house” in terms of military warfare because once located there, one cannot escape without the sight of pursuers. The guide told us that hundreds of thousands of Tutsis had been led here by the government under the disguise of protecting them only to lead them to their slaughter. Literally, they could not run or hide due to the strategic location of the hill.
After touring the museum, we headed over to see some mass graves and said a little prayer for the departed. Then there was the option for those who wanted to go and see the bodies in the classrooms. This was the most frightening bit of the tour since we were told that we would find bones of people displayed in their original state. There was a total of 24 rooms all filled with bodies of men, women and children who had been clobbered to death. As you entered the room, you would be hit by a strong smell mostly from decaying human bodies and then a ghostly sight that would numb your nerves! You look one side and see a skeleton of a mother holding unto a skeleton of her baby; she had probably died trying to protect her child, then you see skeletons of women whose hands are cupped as if in prayer for mercy… We moved from room to room and the trauma, the silence, the pain, the anger, the tears…cannot be expressed on mere paper. Deep down in our hearts, we all prayed silently that this should NEVER happen again!
We ended our tour with a visit to a place of mass graves where the French soldiers had constructed a volley ball pitch. They used to play volleyball on top of mass graves in order to conceal the killings! To say that we were disappointed would be an understatement!
The tour ended with a session with the psychologist who did her best to try to revive our sunken spirits. She taught us about the need for inner peace as a source of energy. Afterwards, we traveled back to Butare in mostly silence and feigned courage on some people’s faces. But truth be told, we were in shock!
By Chege Kelvin (Participant from Kenya)
On Sunday 5th January, we left the comfort of Belllagio Hotel to travel to Nyanza in Huye district for a weekend away from Kigali city. Huye District is in the South of Rwanda and was one of the areas most affected by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis. It is the home to Murambi Memorial genocide site where thousands of Tutsis were massacred in cold blood.
The journey was characterized mostly by a smooth ride of roads that wound around heavily farmed hills. We were able to see men uniformed in orange prison wear working on farm lands and we learned that these were the genocide perpetrators under the “TIG” program who had to do community service in reparation for their crimes. Indeed we could see a land being rebuilt and along the way we met scattered households that reflected a long history of poverty and destruction.
We stopped over in Nyanza where we visited the King’s Palace museum. This tour gave us a great insight into the Rwandan history and the system of kingship. We also learned about different traditional practices of the Rwandese such as their architecture, their livestock farming and their traditional worship. We got a chance to tour the palace which like many other sites we had visited had a lot of information displayed around it. We learned of the role of the Rwanda kingdom and the colonialists in creating the division among Rwandans that eventually led to the growth of division in the Rwandan society.
In the afternoon, we drove to Butare where we exchanged with a community group in Mukura Sector (la Benevolencija) or Save (International Alert). This was basically a union of various cooperatives bringing together people in groups of; genocide survivors, genocide perpetrators and the youth. We listened to tales from locals belonging to all the three grouping in this sector. A lady who had lost her husband and children told us how she had been able to master courage to forgive those that had wronged her and moved on to create a a group to reconcile people in her community. Another man who had been a perpetrator told us of his twelve and a half years in prison and his experience with the Gacaca court where he had come to confess his role in genocide, ask for forgiveness and come back to his community. He told us of the challenges he faced in reintegrating into society and how thankful he was for being given a second chance. We had a chance to ask a few questions to all the gathered people and joined in their music and dance most of which had an element of reconciliation and working together. The use of economic cooperatives to bring people together for reconciliation and community rehabilitation looked like a real great idea from what we witnessed.
We drove to St. Vincent and checked in as we prepared to spend a few more days in Huye District!
By Diane Mukashema (Participant from Rwanda)
On Saturday 4th January, our main area of focus was the inter-linkages between transitional justice and peace building.
We discussed the successes of the Gacaca court system as applied in Post-genocidal Rwanda. It was very helpful in information gathering as many perpetrators told victims were their loved ones were buried or killed them in exchange for mitigated sentences or complete freedom. The system also helped to deal with the case backlog in Rwanda by dispensing off majority of unheard cases. It helped in revealing the truth about the genocide and set the record straight on so many unresolved issues. Furthermore, the Gacaca court system was way much cheaper in costs than what it would have cost to dispense off the cases in a classical justice system.
“I want the international community to realize that it is more expensive to deal with post genocide perpetrators than if they had invested in preventing the genocide…” the ever wise Nyakiya Eston from Kenya said.
We looked at the challenges of the Gacaca court system and top of the list was the issue of trauma. This was expurgated by tales of killings of the Tutsi people. The court system did not have well trained personnel to address trauma of victims as a result of these dark truths. There was also an increasing number of prisoner most of whom spent long periods under detention without trial. Legal impartiality and objectivity may also have been a challenge since the system drew its officials from the community many of whom may have had people on either side.
However, despite all these challenges, Betty Mutesi stressed that “The Gacaca court system may not have been perfect but people feel it was a success because it dealt with a situation that had never been dealt with elsewhere”
We later discussed the ways in which transitional justice was related to peace building. Transitional justice brings reforms based on what a country wants to achieve. In discussing what peace meant, Wilson, a participant from Rwanda noted that “For me, peace starts at a personal level…” and stressed the need for people to achieve inner peace before they set out to become peace builders in communities.
Gabriella from the UK noted that “There is negative peace and positive peace…” which gave way to a discussion of what peace really was and what it meant to live in peace. Was peace the absence of war? Betty thought otherwise, “Peace does not mean the total absence of violence…” and she noted that conflict is not necessarily bad because some conflicts lead to development and birth of new ideas.
We need to address some of our internal challenges to be able to maintain peace in our region. “Mary Anderson’s principle of “Do No Harm” needs to be practiced by civil society to avoid being caught up in community conflicts” Conflict sensitivity should be done to avert conflicts that may rise in the region. Countries need to work together because the truth is that a conflict in one region will always affect the neighbor countries.
This marked the end of this day’s work and participants headed for a guided tour of Kigali city which brought its own adventures. We got to see the various attractions around the city and even landed a little trouble as we took pictures on a beautiful golf course!
By Liesse Horimbere (Participant from Burundi)
This day was dedicated to the topic of transitional justice and straight after the recap of the previous day, the facilitator Mutesi Betty went straight into the discussion of what transitional justice meant. We learned that it is a form of justice system that seeks to redress or reform a community that has suffered conflict. Transitional justice is an interim process and is often reparative and comprising of alternative judicial processes different and including classical measures.
It is both judicial and non judicial and includes measures that have been implemented by different countries in order to redress the legacies of massive human rights abuses. These measures include; Truth commissions (such as those used in Kenya after the post election violence, South Africa, DRC, Chile and Germany), Criminal prosecutions (ICTR, ICTY), Reparation programs (TIG program in Rwanda) and Commemoration.
In summary;
We further ventured into the Travaux D’Interet General (TIG program) and seen how it was and is still being applied in Rwanda. We talked issues such as whether transitional justice is satisfactory to the victims of the violence and why Rwanda chose a reconciliation commission over a truth commission.
In the next session Mrs. Betty Mutesi introduced us to the GACACA Justice system which was used after the 1994 Genocide to try perpetrators. It originates from a traditional Rwandan society practice where people used to sit together on grass to resolve conflicts. From 2001 to 2012, 2 million cases had been dealt with in this institution.
At 12 am, we have received an Freddy Mutanguha the Country Director of AEGIS who came to talk about his Organization’s activities. He told us how they use THE PAST TO EDUCATE THE FUTURE. In confronting the past, both perpetrators and survivors have to play their role. The organization in term of education uses exhibitions and images, and storytelling. We learned through this institution’s work the role of the youth in reconciliation.
In the afternoon, Kamazi Innocent came to talk about ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda). We learned that it had been created in November 1994 with the aim of pursuing the” big fish” who perpetrated the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. He told us the mechanisms used in an international court, how they had worked, the challenges they faced and still face and its role in the reconciliation.
That marked the end of another fruitful day at the Peace Building Institute!
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NAR Peace Building Institute 