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It is both too decentralized and not decentralized enough
: 
As is mentioned above, the ordinary 
Rwandan prefers the justice of proximity over national or international courts or other judicial 
bodies. The Gacaca courts are a hybrid The fact that the Gacaca courts are operating in the 
natural living environment of those involved lives up to this desire. However, the Gacaca and 
the reconciliation process in Rwanda in general are an extremely state-driven, state-owned and 
top-down process with people abiding by the= principles, mechanisms and discourses laid out 
for them. To give some examples: state officials became involved in a judicial procedure and 
circumvented the 'ownership' of the population when they started filtering out 'real' category 1 
suspects in order to reduce the number of accused in that category. Part of the truth cannot be 
spoken, as we will see again below: the state controls what can be aired, creating self-
censorship within the' population. At the same time, the Gacaca courts, with their harsh 
retributive powers, are too decentralized. They operate in the social constellation of local 
communities all of which are characterized by their particular demographic make-up, power 
structure and existing conflicts. This creates the possibility for people to forge alliances or the 
need to follow a certain strategy in the practice of 'accusing' or 'conspiring in silence', not 
necessarily reflecting the procedure envisioned. This is linked first and foremost to the 
capacities and capabilities of individuals. The power of authority, money or the gun allows 
some to influence the proceedings. But it is also a result of the power of sheer numbers, the 

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(ethnic) composition of the collective. When survivors are few and isolated they tend to keep 
quiet in order not to be (physically or socially) eliminated from the community or their 
testimonies are partially ignored. When survivors are numerous, part of the (administrative) 
power structure and represented on the bench of the Gacaca courts, they have more leverage-a 
situation that can then create the feeling of powerlessness and arbitrariness on the part of 
released prisoners and the accused. 
e.