Population’s perspectives on peace through gacaca
Overall, the population appears deeply divided over how to interpret the role of gacaca in building peace. In the rare instances that the popuÂlation discusses peace through gacaca, such descriptions usually come from detainees in the ingando.
Regarding the nature of conflict that peacebuilding processes at gacaca should overcome, few Rwandans disÂcuss the idea of conflict as an aberration. The population emphasises instead the inevitability of ongoing conflict which gacaca will need to address. Unsurprisingly, most Rwandans, and especially genocide surÂvivors, describe conflict in terms of deep-rooted animosity, which causes ongoing fear, anger and resentment. Nathan, the pastor and survivor in Nyamata quoted earlier, said,Everyone is still fearful - the prisoners and the survivors. The biggest fear though is among those coming back from the prisons... For those comÂing back, their fears are justified because the survivors are still angry. It depends how bad [the prisoners’] crimes were. But for the survivors, the genocide is still haunting... There is a small chance of revenge attacks against the prisoners, but I think the government will constrain anyone who is looking for revenge.[524]
The narratives along the gacaca journey in Chapter 4 support these assertions that many survivors are fearful and angry when suspects return from prison and relations between survivors and suspects are often strained.
A minority of the population, however, expresses a view of conflict as an aberration in Rwandan society. As we have seen, many detainÂees in particular express a view of Rwandan community as a â€?family’ characterised by an inherent sense of peace and harmony. Echoing the government’s rhetoric, they argue that, when conflict arises, people must simply rediscover the familial virtues embedded in Rwandan society.
Much of the population interprets gacaca’s peacebuilding methods similarly to the government, although with greater emphasis on eduÂcative rather than deterrent methods of peacebuilding. Genocide susÂpects tend to emphasise gacaca’s capacity for fostering negative peace, reflecting their overriding desire to avoid reprisals after they return to their communities. Pierre, a suspect at a gacaca hearing in Butamwa district of Kigali Ville, argued that gacaca could â€?lessen the possibility of violence in the community’, suggesting that without a face-to-face dialogue between suspects and survivors at gacaca, they would experiÂence open conflict soon after detainees were released from the ingan- do.[525] Many detainees describe their primary motivation for confessing to genocide crimes as the need to â€?live peacefully with others’, which they believe will be impossible without participating in gacaca.[526] Without a show of remorse through a confession of their crimes, apology and request for forgiveness, these detainees argue, they will suffer violent reprisals when they return to the communities where they committed crimes. Nevertheless, my research indicates that only a small minority of confessed perpetrators expressed genuine remorse for their crimes, with most claiming either that they were merely â€?present’ when crimes were committed or they were coerced by political elites to commit these acts.[527]
Survivors, on the other hand, usually interpret gacaca as contributing to positive peace, displaying a greater concern for developing longer-term methods to resolve conflicts. Gacaca promotes peace, some survivors argue, by allowing them to debate important issues resulting from the genocide and to solve their own problems. Survivors assume that these processes will be long term and will require difficult dialogue between the parties involved. �Gacaca is the best way for survivors to find out the truth about the past and for us to learn about living in peace', said Christiane, a widow in Kigali Ville with three young children whose husband was killed during the genocide.
â€?I'm not sure if we can live together again after what has happened. But at gacaca we will learn how to talk together again, and maybe then we will be able to live together peacefully.'11 Muvunyi, a thirty-seven-year-old survivor in Nyabihu disÂtrict of Gisenyi, said, â€?If the people can talk face to face at gacaca and learn how to be together again, then they will live peacefully in the future... We lack peace in our hearts but gacaca allows us to bring out the anger.'[528] [529]Regarding gacaca's peace-related outcomes, the population expresses mixed views. While many Rwandans closely connect gacaca and peaceÂbuilding, many also expect gacaca to exacerbate low-level conflicts between individuals and groups in the community, at least in the early stages of gacaca when detainees and survivors come face to face for the first time. The NURC survey into public views of gacaca shows that most Rwandans anticipate an initial increase in instability during gacaca hearings. According to this survey, 49 per cent of the general populaÂtion and 74 per cent of survivors believe that testimony at gacaca will initially aggravate tensions between families.[530] Eighty-nine per cent of survivors and 49 per cent of detainees believe that they will feel personÂally insecure during hearings,[531] and 97 per cent of the overall population argue that security forces will find it difficult to maintain people's safety at gacaca.[532] Tharcisse, a father of five children and a widower in Gisenyi Ville whose wife was murdered during the genocide, said,
It was wrong to release the prisoners from the camps... Now that they're back in the community there may be more killings. Survivors might hunt down the killers. The killers might hunt down survivors. The governÂment has told us nothing about what is going on... It's impossible for us to live together again.[533]
For genocide suspects, the fear of reprisals when they arrive back in their communities is widespread.
Many suspects I interviewed - includÂing those on the bus leaving the Kinyinya camp during the first wave of detainee releases in 2003 - described rumours they heard in the ingando of groups of survivors waiting to exact revenge on them as soon as they returned home. Reverien, a detainee in the ingando in Kigali Ville, said on the day of his release into his home community near Nyamata,I don't know who's waiting for me in the village. People talk about surÂvivors waiting there for us, maybe wanting to hurt us. I hear stories of survivors waiting for us in the market. I don't know what to expect. It's very scary for us.[534]
Many suspects consequently fear coming face to face with survivors at gacaca. Whether this fear derives from some detainees' feelings of guilt, and thus a fear of having their crimes exposed at gacaca, or from a genuine belief that they may face verbal or physical attack, is unclear. Similarly, many survivors fear having to engage with suspects. Christiane, the surÂvivor who said that gacaca was a place to â€?learn about living in peace', also said,
I got very scared when I first heard the radio message that the prisoners were going to be released... I often see prisoners now in the streets and I get scared. I think to myself, �Will they hurt me? Am I safe here? What will happen when I see them at gacaca?'[535]
Beyond these initial stages of confrontation at gacaca, much of the popuÂlation believes that gacaca will contribute to positive peace, emphasisÂing its role in facilitating long-term stability in Rwanda. Many popular sources claim that, while gacaca may initially increase tensions between participants, this initial phase of instability is necessary for fostering positive peace, by directing initial tensions towards a form of engageÂment at gacaca that allows the parties involved to live together in the future. The NURC survey shows that 84 per cent of the population believe that gacaca will help eradicate the culture of impunity and 92 per cent argue that gacaca will lay the foundation for sustainable peace and social harmony.[536] These statistics suggest that the population is willing to endure an initial increase in tension and acrimony at gacaca to achieve longer-term peace and stability, provided the initial confrontations are mediated to produce more positive outcomes.
Jean-Baptiste, a survivor interviewed after a gacaca hearing in Nyamata, said that he had spoken twice at gacaca about his experiences during the genocide:I come to gacaca because I want to see the killers, even though seeing them will scare me... At gacaca I told the people what I saw and this was very hard... All my family were killed during the genocide - my father, my mother, two brothers and four sisters. I know who killed them. Those men are still in jail and haven't come to gacaca yet... I'm scared about meeting them. But gacaca is good for survivors because we can... tell people what happened to our families... There will only be peace from now on.[537]
Emerithe, a survivor in Gisenyi, said,
You know, gacaca is very difficult for survivors because we have to hear how our families were killed. People repeat these things over and over and it fills your mind for many days. But it is better to know these things than not to know. And it is better to talk about these things. The inyan- gamugayo help us to talk - sometimes they start talking first and others follow. Things have been more peaceful here since people started to talk about what happened in the past.[538]