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.

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

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