Rwandan president launches community courts

KIGALI, Rwanda - Rwanda's president officially launched an initiative Tuesday to set up community courts to try genocide cases, saying the way to reconciliation after the 1994 slaughter is for suspects to be judged by their neighbors.\nSpeaking in the National Assembly, President Paul Kagame called on Rwandans who participated in the slaughter of more than 500,000 people "to be courageous enough to confess to what happened and ask for forgiveness."\nThe first traditional court, called a gacaca, will convene Wednesday. Local people are elected from the community and trained as judges, who conduct trials for those suspected of participating in, but not leading, the genocide. The maximum sentence is life in prison.