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Lawyers Report on Resolution in Rwanda
by Dan Miller
Jessica Raper and Brian Kritz with Sociology Instructor Laurie Pedersen
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People of Rwanda have banded together to make sure genocide never takes place again in their country, according to two lawyers who have just returned from Africa.
In 1994, more than one million Rwandans, including common citizens and professionals alike, were killed by their fellow countrymen. The government-sponsored genocide left Rwanda broken and poor, with no one willing to help them until recently.
Jessica Raper, daughter of MHC adjunct Sociology Professor Aubrey Raper, and husband Brian Kritz enlightened an audience of students and faculty members about the genocide in Rwanda and what is being done to bring the country up to modern times.
It was the second of four presentations in the Sociology Department Speakers' Series and was held November 22 in Petersen Conference Room. The first presentation, led by Smithson Mills on October 12, covered the impact of U.S. trade policy with China on North Carolina. Raper and Kritz spoke on "International Law and Community-Based Dispute Resolution: The Challenge in Rwanda."
Jessica Raper grew up in Madison County, about 15 minutes from the college campus. She graduated from Duke University in 1994; the same year news broke about genocide in Rwanda. After working in Washington, D.C., Raper earned her master's degree in dispute resolution while attending law school.
She moved to Los Angeles, California to work in private practice, specializing in international law and business litigation. "This was extremely grueling work experience," says Jessica. The opportunity arose to leave that job when her husband wanted to go to Rwanda to work..
While in that country, she wrote a paper that will be published in December on conflict resolution in Rwanda titled "Ten Years of Healing."
Brian Kritz is not from around here at all. Originally from central California, he attended Georgetown University for both his undergraduate and law degrees. Always loyal to his home state, Brian returned to California to work in the Riverside County Prosecutor's Office. He worked there for six years, including 18 months in the sex crimes unit. Kritz remembers, "I prayed for a flat tire or even a non-fatal car accident" so he didn't have to work each day.
A friend told him about an interesting work opportunity in Rwanda, so he emailed the Prosecutor General of Rwanda to offer his services. While on his honeymoon, Kritz received the reply from the Prosecutor General, asking when he could come.
He went and helped the Rwandan government with their Constitution, rewriting laws to contain more specifics and protection, and helping overhaul the judicial system.
Rwanda is about the size of Maryland, with a population of approximately eight million. Located in the center of Africa, the people have been isolated. Rwanda does not have Egypt's Nile River, South Africa's diamonds, or western Africa's long-lived slave trade.
In 1994, the Hutu government started a systematic killing of the Tutsi people. The international community pulled out of Rwanda when the killings started, refusing aid or even recognition of the genocide. Most experts agree that backing from the United Nations would have definitely saved Rwanda's population. Ten thousand people were being killed each day, and one eighth of the population was dead in three months.
The Tutsis and the Hutus do not belong to different "tribes." They speak the same language, follow the same religion, and belong to the same ethnic group. Historically, the tutsis herded cattle while the Hutus tilled the soil.
The focus of the presentation in Petersen was what is being done in Rwanda to bring people who committed genocide to justice and revamping the future judicial system of the country to make sure nothing like this happens again.
The entire nation is taking part in this, beginning with the new motto, "Unity, work, patriotism." There are, officially, no more Hutu or Tutsi people; everyone is Rwandan. The two biggest topics discussed by Raper and Kritz were the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and "Gacaca".
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (or ICTR) is a western-style system of justice started by the United Nation's Security Council. It delivered the world's first-ever judgment for genocide upon conviction of Rwanda's Prime Minister for his responsibility in the killings. According to Kritz, this was a huge step in international law that could lead to future convictions of General Pinochet of Chile, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, and Defense Minister Youssouf Togoimi of Chad. Over a ten-year period, the ICTR made seventy indictments and 60 arrests for genocide. As a result, there have been 17 trials, with 16 convictions and one acquittal.
There are problems with this system, including the price tag -- $87 million for 8 convictions in 2003 alone. While this system can focus on leaders, some other process will be needed to deal with the 130,000 people in prison on charges of genocide.
The other big topic of discussion was the concept of "gacaca" (pronounced ga-cha-cha). This is an African traditional system of dispute resolution understood by Rwandans as an alternative to the trial process. Gacaca involves everyone in the community presenting their stories about an accused person to a group of community elders. These elders often do not read or write, have little formal education, and have no legal training. But they listen to what everyone says and make a decision. Anyone who goes through the process is released from prison at the end, but they usually must perform some kind of community service. The benefits of the system are that people get out of the jails and are sentenced to perform community service, attend church, help their country, and become active Rwandan citizens. The disadvantage is that some of the people who were elected judges were also named as people who had committed genocide.
Raper and Kritz said they thoroughly enjoyed their time spent in Rwanda. Children ran up to them just to say "hi" and hold their hands. National leaders constantly thanked them for coming to help people completely different from themselves.
Both of them emphasized that every student should travel abroad if they have the chance. A world perspective is important in today's job market, and government grants make travel costs almost disappear.
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