05.10.09 - RWANDA/GACACA - FORTY FIVE SCHOLARS ON TRIAL THIS WEEK

Arusha, 05 October 2009 (FH) - Forty-five students and professors at the National University of Rwanda (Université nationale du Rwanda, UNR) will be on trial this week before a gacaca court - a form of popular justice - for their alleged role in the genocide, according to the Rwandan daily New Times.

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UNR, at the time the nation's intellectual hub, is located in the provincial town of Butare, in the south of Rwanda. The forty-five scholars are accused of having played a role in the massacre of Tutsis on and off campus in 1994, indicates the newspaper.

Several academics from UNR, including former vice-provost, Jean-Berchmans Nshimyumurenmyi,  have already been  convicted for their role in the genocide.

M. Nshimyumurenmyi, who lives in exile, has been tried and sentenced in absentia.

The gacaca courts - from the Rwandese word for "lawn" to highlight the public procedure - are not presided over by professional magistrates, but by village dignitaries. They have already tried more than a million people, with the notable exception of "planifiers at the national level", and are expected to complete their work by the end of this year.

ER/GF