SCUR urges high school students to participate in Gacaca
From Never Again
Rwanda: SCUR urges high school students to participate in Gacaca
by Emmy Nuwamanya
Butare University's Student Club for Unity and Reconciliation (SCUR) is under the process of initiating high school students country-wide to play a role in bringing about reconciliatory justice through gacaca jurisdiction.
This call comes after the argument promoted by young students that their participation in Gacaca is not vital, since most of them never committed crimes in 1994. In response to this reasoning, the president of SCUR at the national university of Rwanda, Patrick Bizimana, told students at Elena Guerra Secondary school in Rwanda's southern province to participate in gacaca by giving ideas and advices as learned people.
'Owing to the fact that some parents have been reluctant to speak the truth, these students can lead them into revealing what happened in their presence during the genocide. Through family discussions and evidences, they can even report them to gacaca courts for any information hidden', said Bizimana.
The university SCUR is on a mission to preach to high school students the history of Rwanda, how to integrate themselves into government policies, managing their conflicts before they escalate and promoting unity and reconciliation amongst themselves.
Rachael Uwimbabazi, a student at Elena Guerra secondary school is one of those who believe that their role in gacaca is minimal since they never committed crimes. She however believes that gacaca is the only solution to quicken justice in Rwanda.
'What I expect out of gacaca is quick judgment where those found guilty will be penalized and the innocent ones will be acquitted with in the fair conduct of the gacaca system', she added.
According to the SCUR president, some high schools in the country have been characterized by ethnic conflicts where some students have been expelled. Bizimana calls for attention since most of the students hold the genocide ideology from their parents at home. He encouraged students to form a club for unity and reconciliation which will always help them solve problems before they reach the school administration, and that this experience should be transferred to gacaca while they are on holiday.
Another student, Yubu suggested that there is the need to start training students on how to go about the gacaca system since most of them think it is only meant for old people. Students in general said that there is need to explain to them the history about the three ethnicities in the country (Hutu, Tutsi and Twa) in terms of positive elements, not only the negative ones.
In terms of covering the whole country, the president of SCUR said that they have always used other higher institutions of learning like Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (ISAR), and others to sensitize students in their location.
Around 24 high schools neighboring the national university of Rwanda have been registered under SCUR.This student's club for unity and reconciliation started as an initiative of students who were in a solidarity camp, preparing to join universities and other higher institutions of learning.
