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5 Hum. Rts. Brief 1 (1997-1998)

handle is hein.journals/huribri5 and id is 1 raw text is: ,HUMAN RI6HTS Center for Human Rights and Humanitaiian Law I F Rwanda's Domestic Trials for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity ly CarlaJ. Ferstman* wanda has embarked on the challenge of bringing the per- etrators of genocide to justice. Legislation which organizes the pros- ecution of genocide suspects and the compensation of victims has been enacted. Judges are being trained, prosecutors prepare case files, new suspects are arrested, and survivors continue to fear repercussions. Large scale violence in Rwanda was brought on by a blend of enforced ethnic intolerance, con- structed hierarchies, social inequali- ties, and material scarcity. For many generations, common language, cul- ture, and religion kept categoriza- tions of Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa muta- ble. Political construction of divisive ethnic identities helped create the environment which allowed for the surge of human atrocity. Background to the Genocide After the April 6, 1994, downing of the airplane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, an esti- mated one million Rwandans, mainly Tutsis and Hutu political moderates, were systematically murdered by Hutu extremists in the span of a few months. The entire governmental See page 8 for latest War Crimes Tribunal Update apparatus, including the Presidential Guard (Gendarmirie), the local police force, and the civilian administration, mobilized the population toward active participation in the genocide. Interahamwe militia, the youth unit trained by the Presidential Guard, car- ried out a significant number of the murders, set up roadblocks, and dis- tributed arms and killing lists to civil- ians who were rewarded for their com- plicity. Organizers encouraged their communities to kill the Tutsi families living amongst them. Broadcasts by Radio Tivision Libre des Milles Collines contributed to the genocidal frenzy by furthering the campaign of hate. The international community, despite des- perate calls for assistance from world leaders, proved unable or unwilling to take measures to halt the genocide. Although the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (ICPPG) obliges the con- tracting parties to undertake to pre- vent and punish genocide, the world failed to take action to prevent the atrocities which occurred in Rwanda. Effect on the Rwandan Justice System The killings, lootings, and vandal- ism virtually destroyed the justice sys- tem. Most equipment was damaged, leaving trained agencies involved in the investigative or judicial process inoperable. Even if the judicial sys- tem in place before the war had remained intact, it would have been continued on next page Volume: 5, Numabe~r I a Fall 1997 Conscientious Objection in the Americas by Raymondj Toney* O n October 7, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights heard arguments in the case of Luis Gabriel Caldas Leon, who refused to perform military service in the Colom- bian Armed Forces for reasons of con- science. The fundamental issue raised by Cardas is whether conscientious objection to military service is a protected manifes- tation of Article 12 rights of the American Convention on Human Rights. Mr. Caldas completed his secondary studies in 1993 and was then selected to perform obligatory military service as established by Law 48 of 1993 and Article continued on page 18 1

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