Rwanda has experienced violence involving horrendous human rights
abuses, including genocide, since 1959 and particularly, during the
early 1990s. In response to this violence, the post-genocide Government
of Rwanda undertook what is arguably the most ambitious attempt in human
history to bring perpetrators of atrocity to justice. The Government
opted to pursue a maximal approach to accountability that aimed to
identify and hold accountable each and every person who participated in
mass atrocity. Rwanda has used the formal judicial system, Gacaca and
international justice to deal with the genocide. These processes of
transitional justice should not be an end in themselves.
The
success of transitional justice processes, in Rwanda as elsewhere, can
only be measured in terms of their lasting impact on the society in
which they have been adopted; on whether they have contributed to
consolidating the rule of law; and whether they build social cohesion
and enhance prospects for long-term peace and development.
The
RNC supports truth, justice and memory processes that reflect the
experiences of all our people without discrimination. The RNC shares
some of the concerns of many Rwandans about the processes of
accountability that Rwanda has undertaken. The judicial processes that
the government of Rwanda has implemented have had very many
shortcomings. The attempt to investigate and prosecute each and every
suspected case of genocide, in a situation where the justice system was
too weak to cope with the work load, led to violations of the rights of
persons accused of genocide and to the denial of fair trial rights.
Rwandan society has yet to openly address the issue of violence that
victims in the Hutu community experienced during the conflicts of the
1990s. The trials that both Rwanda and the ICTR have undertaken have not
been even-handed; they have dealt exclusively with the genocide and
have not addressed the grievances of Hutu victims of human rights
violations. Far from expressing remorse and seeking the forgiveness of
the victims, most of the perpetrators of the genocide remain in denial.
Instead of bringing healing and reconciliation, Gacaca has led to
confrontation among victims of the genocide and the rest of their
communities. By bringing victims and the rest of their communities into
confrontation, Gacaca has served to enhance divisions, rather than unite
communities. Victims of the genocide resent the way in which the RPF
has exploited the genocide to serve its political interests and goals.
The Hutu community largely perceives the transitional justice processes
that Rwanda has undertaken as “victors‟ justice.”
As a result
of these and other shortcomings, the processes of justice that Rwanda
has undertaken have failed to achieve some of their principal
objectives: eradicating a culture of impunity for gross human rights
abuses; enhancing respect for human rights; promoting the rule of law;
facilitating reconciliation; enhancing social cohesion; preventing
conflict; and ensuring sustainable peace. The hope that justice would
promote reconciliation and bring closure and healing to the victims has
not been realized. In fact, Rwandan society remains deeply divided along
ethnic lines and, in many ways, is collectively traumatized.
The contributions of Rwanda‟s transitional justice processes to national
reconciliation have been constrained by a lack of even-handedness in
the administration of justice for prior atrocities and the absence of
progress in democratization. Impunity for gross human rights violations
is still deeply entrenched. Rwanda‟s transition to democracy and the
rule of law has been unsuccessful. The major causes of Rwanda‟s conflict
(namely lack of freedom, conflict over political representation and
access to power and resources) remain unresolved. Prospects for violent
conflict remain high.
The Rwanda National Congress supports
accountability for all human rights violations, regardless of the
identity of the victims or the identity of the perpetrators of the
alleged crime. The RNC also recognizes that it is not possible to
investigate and prosecute all crimes that take place in a situation of
mass atrocity in which large numbers of ordinary people participate and
comply with applicable human rights standards. The RNC seeks, without
discrimination, to ensure truth, justice and memory for all victims of
the human rights violations that have taken place since 1990.
To this end, the Rwanda National Congress supports:
- The creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to establish a
historical record of the Rwanda conflict that reflects the experiences
of all communities of our nation - Criminal prosecutions of persons
who bear the greatest responsibility for the most serious human rights
violations that have been committed during Rwanda‟s conflict since the
1990s - Restorative justice processes for the remainder of persons who took part in committing human rights abuses during this period
- Review of cases of persons who have been tried, convicted and
punished by Gacaca or national courts, where there is evidence that the
accused have been victims of gross miscarriages of justice -The
provision of reparations for all victims of serious human rights
violations that have been committed during Rwanda‟s conflict since 1990s
- The establishment of museums and monuments, days of remembrance and
other ways and means to collectively remember, celebrate and honor all
victims of all human rights abuses that have taken place in Rwanda -
The development of positive expressions of gratitude to past leaders
who contributed to the social, economic and political development of a
progressive, modern, and democratic Rwanda.
The RNC recommends
that the government that will prepare the country for transition to
democracy should organize a national dialogue on the aforementioned
proposals as a matter of urgency. The RNC also recognizes that the
transformation of war-torn, deeply-divided societies with histories of
gross human rights abuses, into democratic, peaceful and stable states
is a process fraught with difficult challenges. Accountability for past
atrocities is a critical component of strategies to facilitate such
transformation.
However, justice, whatever its form, must
ensure the rule of law and be the insurer of peace and stability. Reform
of political governance systems is ultimately more essential to the
process of building more cohesive, peaceful and stable societies in the
aftermath of mass atrocity. Transitional justice processes are unlikely
to achieve their intended objectives if they are not part of a wider
process that addresses the root causes of a country‟s conflict.
No comments:
Post a Comment