Legal Aid Rwanda

Legal Aid Rwanda, founded in 1997, conducted a three-month pilot project during which volunteer North American lawyers went to Rwanda to provide pretrial representation to people accused of genocide. It became rapidly clear that the plea-bargaining provision inserted by the international community into the legislation governing the crimes committed during the genocide was unacceptable within Rwandan culture.

Indeed, a Rwandan would be totally ostracized from his or her community if, after denying any involvement in the genocide at the time of arrest, he or she admitted guilt to get a shorter sentence. It also became rapidly clear that the plea- bargaining provision was virtually unworkable within the framework of the civil law system of Rwanda. In Rwanda, the government is not required to disclose the charges against a defendant until the time a case is transferred to the tribunal, but by that time, when the benefits of plea bargaining (judicial economy for the government and shorter sentences for the accused) no longer exist. Legal Aid Rwanda represented 500 inmates, most of whom had been incarcerated for almost 4 years.

 None of Legal Aid Rwanda’s clients had ever seen a lawyer, and none agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges. Nevertheless, inquiries by Legal Aid Rwanda led prosecutors to release a number of inmates for lack of evidence, and at least one was acquitted after trial. The pilot project was deemed a success by the international community in Rwanda, offered funding by the United States government, and praised in academic articles as well as in the book by Alison Des Forges about the Rwandan genocide, Leave None to Tell the Story , published by Human Rights Watch. Unfortunately, due to disagreements with the Rwandan government, Legal Aid Rwanda had to suspend its operation. It is obvious from the Rwandan experience, however, that a post-conflict criminal justice system must be adapted to the culture in which it will function.