Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One The Nature and Future of Customary Law
- Part Two Ascertainment, Application, and Codification of Customary Law
- Part Three The Role and Power of Traditional Authorities
- Part Four Customary Land, Property Rights, and Succession
- Part Five Customary Criminal Law
- 16 Customary Criminal Law in the South African Legal System
- 17 Gacaca in Rwanda
- Part Six Customary Law, Human Rights, and Gender Equality
- Index
- References
17 - Gacaca in Rwanda
Customary Law in Case of Genocide
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One The Nature and Future of Customary Law
- Part Two Ascertainment, Application, and Codification of Customary Law
- Part Three The Role and Power of Traditional Authorities
- Part Four Customary Land, Property Rights, and Succession
- Part Five Customary Criminal Law
- 16 Customary Criminal Law in the South African Legal System
- 17 Gacaca in Rwanda
- Part Six Customary Law, Human Rights, and Gender Equality
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction: A Day in Court
A day in August, 2009, Aimable, a friend since my arrival in Rwanda, has asked me to join him to the gacaca where the killers of his family will stand trial. He was not in the country when the genocide started on April 6, 1994. Just a few hours before the airplane of the president was shot down – the catalyst event that started the genocide – he left the country. At the time, he was studying law in Kigali. During the Easter holidays, he and a girlfriend paid his family a visit. His friend had insisted on leaving the country immediately, totally in panic and without any clear reason. His family was angry about him leaving so soon, because they had not seen him for a long time. Three days later, his entire family was dead.
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- Information
- The Future of African Customary Law , pp. 387 - 420Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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