Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
11 July 2008
The documentary by Christopher Gargot, a French filmmaker, entitled "D'Arusha à Arusha" (From Arusha to Arusha), which exposes the limits of the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR), has been awarded a prize at the 19th Marseille International Documentary Festival.
The French film obtained the George de Beauregard prize, which honours the best direction, the most interesting discovery and the most ambitious producer.
At the opening of the festival, Gargot explained that he wanted to answer the question over what is this justice which is hiding itself from?.
The other part of his work concentrates on the perception of Rwandans over the work of ICTR. "...Rwandans will not have had any relationship with this tribunal or only that which the authorities wished for them to have ",
regrets Gargot, for which: "like the ICTR, Rwandans evolve in a closed universe".
Part of the documentary was filmed in Rwanda on the semi-traditional gacaca trials. The Gacaca courts are not presided by professional judges but members of the community who are considered of high integrity.
According to Gargot, the Gacaca system, "does not change in anyway the relationship with justice ... they favour unfairness and feed resentment, potentially a time bomb".
As the work of the tribunal approaches its end, Gargot concludes that, "the tribunal will never thus be able to escape the accusation of having been unfair in the treatment of history and to have consolidated, at the end of the day, the victory of one side."
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