Rwanda village genocide trials underway

NYAMUGALI, Rwanda - Thousands of Rwandans have gathered in a hilltop village to see their governor defend himself against accusations that he took part in the country's 1994 genocide.

Boniface Rucago, a powerful governor from Rwanda's North West Ruhengeri province is the first senior government official to be summoned by Rwanda's village courts or "gacaca" whose trials have been taking place across the central African nation.

"I have all the evidence to prove that our governor had a role in the death of a man by the name of Kabaija," said Juliana Mukagakwaya, one of 12 locals accusing Rucago of playing a key role in planning the killing of Tutsis in the small village.

"I surely know he had a role in the slaughter of my nephew," a woman veiled in a Muslim cloak told the court which was watched by almost 4,000 people in Nyamugali.

But speaking in a shaky voice, the governor said after the hearing, in which he talked about the reason for the war: "Everything the villagers are saying is untrue. They have made it up."

Rucago, who has been governor of the province for almost nine years, will be given the chance to defend himself against the accusers' specific allegations and then the court will give its verdict.

Gacaca (meaning grass) dispenses with the formalities of the normal court system, using venues such as grassy knolls and relying on villagers' testimonies against those suspected of being involved in the massacre by Hutu extremists of some 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates.

The traditional courts were established to deal with a backlog of suspects awaiting trial in conventional courts, with more than 80,000 people still on remand in prisons.

So far, the village courts, led by locally elected judges sitting as investigative panels, have concentrated on questioning thousands of low-level suspects.

An estimated 700 senior and low-ranked government officials including three members of parliament have been summoned to appear before the courts.

The Rwandan government says that up to 1 million of Rwanda's 8 million people, are expected to be tried in the gacaca courts.

Focusing on confession and apology, they are also intended to ease the way to national reconciliation.

Under gacaca, those who confess and plead guilty before a set date will have their sentences reduced.

Analysts say some Rwandans have started fleeing the country for fear of being paraded before the courts.

"It is true we have had these reports but the figure of those running away is not that big," the director of legal services for gacaca Augustin Nkusi told Reuters.

Gacaca courts were traditionally used by village communities who would gather on a patch of grass to resolve conflicts between two families, employing the heads of each household as judges.