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The Gacaca court (pronounced ga-CHA-cha) is a system of community justice inspired by Rwandan tradition where ''gacaca'' can be loosely translated to "justice in the grass". This traditional, communal justice was adapted in 2001 to fit the needs of Rwanda in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide (also known as "Hutu vs Tutsi" ) wherein an estimated 800,000 people were massacred. After the genocide, the new Rwandan Patriotic Front's government struggled to pursue justice on such a massive scale, and therein to develop just means for the humane detention and prosecution of the more than 100,000 people accused of genocide, war crimes, and related crimes against humanity.〔 Lars Waldorf, ''International Center for Transitional Justice''〕 By 2000, approximately 130,000 alleged genocide perpetrators populated Rwanda's prisons (Reyntjens & Vandeginste 2005, 110). Using the justice system Rwanda had in place, the trial of such massive numbers of alleged perpetrators would take well over 100 years during which Rwanda's economy would crumble as a massive amount of their population awaited trial in prison. For this reason they chose to adapt and create a large-scale justice system, which would work alongside the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in order to heal as a people and to thrive as a country. In response, Rwanda implemented the Gacaca court system, which necessarily evolved to fit the scenario from its prior form of traditional cultural communal law enforcement procedures. The Gacaca courts are a method of transitional justice and are designed to promote communal healing and rebuilding in the wake of the Rwandan Genocide.〔''International Center for Transitional Justice''〕 Rwanda has especially focused on community rebuilding placing justice in the hands of trusted citizens. However, the system has come under criticism from a number of sources, including the Survivors Fund, which represents survivors of the genocide, due to the danger that it poses to survivors and there have been a number of reports on survivors being targeted for giving evidence at the courts. However, the Rwandan government maintains the success of Gacaca Courts citing their present success as a country. ==History of Gacaca== Within 17th century Rwanda, prior to colonization, the extended lineage or family (umuryungo), which encompassed several households (inzu), was the main unit of social organization within Rwandan society. The status of people within families were based upon the age and sex of the person. Only aged married men, without living parents, were independent while all others, especially women, were dependent upon what the men dictated. The family lineage controlled arranged marriages, ancestral traditions and ceremonies, the payment or retrieval of debts, and was the primary source of security for people. Ruling over these lineages were Kings (mwami). Within Rwanda, Kings ruled over many different sections of Rwanda. The king, within Rwandan society, embodied power, justice, and knowledge and was the mediator of any major dispute within their region. However, before disputes were brought to the kings, they were heard locally by wise men as what is referred to as Gacaca. The name Gacaca is derived from the Kinyarwanda word umugaca meaning “a plant so soft to sit on that people prefer to gather on it”. Originally, Gacaca gatherings were meant to restore order and harmony within communities by acknowledging wrongs and having justice restored to those who were victims.〔 However, with the colonization of Rwanda and the arrival of western systems of law, Rwandan society soon began to change as a whole. With this implementation and usage of western legal systems, Rwandans began to go to courts to deal with their disputes. In turn, Kings and wisemen soon began to lose their legitimacy within Rwandan society. And with this loss of legitimacy, Gacaca courts began to dwindle down in numbers.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gacaca court」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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