Gacaca Court - Tradition of Gacaca

Tradition of Gacaca

Originally, the Gacaca settled village or familial disputes. The courts were informal means of solving disputes around issues like theft, marital issues, land rights, and property damage. They were constituted as village assemblies, presided by the ancients, where each member of the community could request to speak. The trials were meant to promote reconciliation and justice of the perpetrator in front of family and neighbors.

Well-respected elders, known as Inyangamugayo, were elected based on their honesty by the people of the community. The name Gacaca originates from Rwanda's national language, Kinyarwanda, which, translated roughly into English means short, clean cut grass or "umucaca." It is symbolic for a gathering place for elders to sit on and judge the trial. Inyangamugayo would assemble all parties to a crime and mediate a resolution involving reparations or some act of contrition. The Gacaca court is thus a system of grassroots legal bodies inspired by traditional power structures.

In relation to genocide, the Gacaca process provides a basis for settlement; the system emphasizes the importance of accord, condemns the guilty, and promotes collaboration between those deciding as well as among the spectators. In keeping with tradition, villagers elect nine representatives for each Gacaca court to be the judges known as "people of integrity."