The president and vice-president are elected by the abunzi committees and the secretary of the abunzi is also the secretary of the cell. [...] In the oath, the mediator acknowledges that for failure to honour the oath ‘may I face the rigors of the law’ (Organic Law 02/20/2010/0l).9 The 2010 Organic Law mandates that the abunzi makes decisions consistent with the law and also underscores the need for abunzi mediators to settle disputes using conciliation and mediation as the mandated approaches. [...] The government of Rwanda acknowledges the social, psychological and emotional toll of the genocide on Rwandan society, including the destruction of social bonds, hence the stated objectives of ‘bridging the rifts within society and healing the wounds of those afflicted by genocide’ (Ndangiza, 2007:1). [...] This could be reflective of the high levels of satisfaction with the abunzi system or the lack of desire to appeal because the Organic Law on the abunzi provides for appeals of outcomes of the abunzi mediation. [...] The mixture of the pseudo-adversarial approach and the conciliatory approach, coupled with the combination of culture and western justice are some of the inherent contradictions within the abunzi.
- Pages
- 34
- Published in
- South Africa
