Wednesday, June 20, 2007

20 June 2007 - Penal Reform International

So, I had a very nice birthday. Nothing too exciting. I didn’t tell any of my work colleagues it was my birthday. Last year I celebrated my birthday here in Nyamata. The entire village came out to celebrate my birthday. It was a very special day that I will never forget, but I decided that it would be best to keep it low-key this year. So, I just went with 4 friends for Ethiopian food. I received gummy bears from my German friends, possibly the best gift ever here. They are very difficult to obtain here and German gummy bears are the best!

I am currently reading through all of Penal Reform International reports on Gacaca. PRI -
www.penalreform.org and Avocats Sans Frontière are the only two international organizations that work with the National Service of Gacaca Courts to monitor the process on the field (at least this is what I have been told). There are other local organizations that also help monitor the Gacaca Courts but PRI and ASF are international organizations that are not financed by Rwanda as far as I know. They are meant to give a more objective view of the process as well as provide extra resources for Gacaca. The National Service of Gacaca Courts cannot possibly finance monitors to be at every trial.

These organizations are at times critical of Gacaca, but they attempt to offer only constructive criticism and offer solutions to the problems. So, my job is to read through the reports and list out all of the recommendations given by PRI. If I have time I will try to copy some of the work I’ve done onto this site.

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