25 May 2007 - TGIF

So, I did not get to meet with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. And today is her last day here. Sort of sad. But, I did get to meet the Executive Director of Gacaca. She was very kind and excited to have me here. She wants me to be able to experience many things, which is great for me. This means I should get to travel in the near future.

I think I will be attending a Gacaca session on Sunday. It is Byuma’s trial, the one I mentioned earlier. There should be many human rights activists there and should be interesting.

Yesterday I read through the Organic Law as well as the newest additions and amendments to it. I was asked to look at the law and determine what human rights it violates. Not an easy task. There are many problems with Gacaca…but it leaves one to wonder…who gets to determine human right standards and is it really fair to impose them on a country which is lacking the proper resources to carry out these ‘fair trials.’ At least one should offer some solutions instead of continuously criticizing.

Some human rights organizations are critical of Gacaca but have attempted to work with the government and improve the Courts. Others merely criticize the entire process and offer little if any solutions. I found quite an interesting article in the Yale Journal of International Affairs at http://www.yale.edu/yjia/articles/Vol_1_Iss_2_Spring2006/chakravarty223.pdf. Well, I at least found it interesting. It examines the approach taken by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch versus Avocats sans Frontieres (Lawyers without Borders) and Penal Reform International.

So, I’ve been looking at the various international treaties Rwanda has ratified in order to determine what exactly the fair trial standards are for Rwanda. Some of the articles I’ve found just make sweeping statements such as ‘Gacaca does not follow the international standards of fair trials.’ They just leave it at that as if that’s sufficient to condemn the Courts as one huge violation of human rights.

I’ve not been feeling great the past couple days. But, I guess this can be expected. It takes a bit to adjust to the food and environment. I am really looking forward to the weekend. I finally get to sleep in. I have to be at work by 7 am. This is a little too early for me.