(6 Apr 2004) 1. Wide shot Kigali street with billboard "Gacaca" (village court) 2. Close up billboard 3. Wide shot of village court in the bush 4. Mid shot of some witnesses 5. Mid shot judges 6. Close up of suspects 7. Wide shot of village court with suspects entering and sitting down 8. SOUNDBITE: (Kinyarwanda) Mujaruzamba Francoise, Judge and genocide victim: "Gacaca is the answer because she does not know who killed her family, but those who are now detained when they are released and brought here, they will say who killed who." 9. Cutaway of forms 10. Local militiamen 11. Mid shot of village court STORYLINE: Wednesday is the anniversary of the beginning of the systematic slaughter unleashed by the Hutu majority on 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in Rwanda. For the next 100 days, victims were chased into churches, banana fields and swamps. They were hacked to death by neighbours and shot by soldiers. The genocide drew unusual apologies from the United Nations (UN) and US President Bill Clinton for failing to intervene. The violence spilled into neighbouring to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and sparked two civil wars there. The genocide ended when the Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front toppled the Hutu extremists. Tutsis now largely control the government, economy and army. The government has worked hard to promote reconciliation, most notably through an unusual experiment in community justice. Last year, with 115,000 jailed genocide suspects awaiting trial, the government decided those who confessed and named others who took part in the bloodbath would be released and tried by their neighbours in traditional community courts known as "gacaca" (pronounced ga-CHA-cha). The government has freed 23,000 suspects and expects 30,000 more will be out by the end of June. The gacaca have the power to impose life imprisonment. But if repentant offenders can persuade the judges they have owned up to all their crimes, they can expect a substantially reduced sentence, part of it in community service. At least eight genocide suspects have been sentenced to death by a provincial court for killing survivors who were to testify against them. A handful of other cases remain under investigation. In neighbouring Tanzania, a UN tribunal trying alleged masterminds of the genocide has convicted 18 people, imposing prison terms ranging from 10 years to life. Three defendants have been acquitted. Rwandan officials are fiercely critical of the tribunal, accusing it of being inefficient and remote from the victims. Economically, Rwanda has rebounded remarkably. It has privatised key industries and, with ample foreign aid, is rebuilding shattered infrastructure. Tea and coffee production has returned to pre-genocide levels and gross domestic product has doubled to 986 (b) billion Rwandan francs (1.7 billion US dollars). The boom is driven by returning Tutsi exiles bringing money and business know-how. But the statistics mask a harsh reality. More than 60 per cent of Rwandans live on less than one US dollar a day and 90 per cent depend on farming. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/dbfbb8a4fad07383547e228250e873d4

• published: 21 Jul 2015
• views: 627