Skip to main content

Peace in Rwanda: Balancing the ICTR and “Gacaca” in Postgenocide Peacebuilding

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Global Approaches to Peace

Abstract

In the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi , the Rwandan people needed to achieve a sense of justice. Attempts by the international community to mediate the justice process were met with skepticism by the Rwandan people. However, the UN Security Council still established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which sought to implement an international framework for the prosecution of the crime of genocide. In this chapter, the author compares the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to the Gacaca process, which operated at a grassroots level; with a mandate to expose the truth about the genocide, it established courts around the country, while also laying the foundations for peace, reconciliation and unity for contemporary Rwanda.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barria, L. A., & Roper, S. D. (2005). How Effective Are International Criminal Tribunals? An Analysis of the ICTY and ICTR. The International Journal of Human Rights, 9(3), 349–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Betts, A. (2005). Should Approaches to Post-conflict Justice and Reconciliation Be Determined Globally, Nationally or Locally? The European Journal of Development Research, 17(4), 735–752.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boot, M. (2002). Nullum Crimen Sine Lege and the Subject Matter Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes. Antwerp: Intersentia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bornkamm, P. (2012). Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts: Between Retribution and Reparations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brittain, V. (2003). The Arusha Tribunal Costs Too Much for Very Few Results: An Interview with Paul Kagame. African Geopolitics, 11(1), 99–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Conflict Management. (2012). Report on the National Service of Gacaca Courts. Kigali: University of Rwanda.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charney, J. (2001). International Criminal Law and the Role of Domestic Courts. American Journal of International Law, 95(1), 120–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, P. (2007). Hybridity, Holism, and Traditional Justice: The Case of the Gacaca Courts in Post-genocide Rwanda. George Washington International Law Review, 39(4), 765–832.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. (2008). The Three Rs: Retributive Justice, Restorative Justice and Reconciliation. Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social and Restorative Justice, 11(4), 330–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, P. (2014). Negotiating Reconciliation in Rwanda: Popular Challenges to the Official Discourse of Post-genocide National Unity. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 8(4), 303–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, P., Kaufman, Z. D., & Nicolaïdis, K. (2008). Tensions in Transitional Justice. In P. Clark & Z. D. Kaufman (Eds.), After Genocide: Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Rwanda and Beyond (pp. 381–391). London: Hurst.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drumbl, M. (2002). Restorative Justice and Collective Responsibility: Lessons for and from the Rwandan Genocide. Contemporary Justice Review, 5(1), 5–22. Retrieved from: http://doi.org/10.1080/10282580210831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fierens, J. (2005). Gacaca Courts: Between Fantasy and Reality. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 3(4), 896–919.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franke, K. (2006). Gendered Subjects of Transitional Justice. Columbia Journal of Gender & Law, 15(3), 813–828.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gacaca Community Justice. (2018). Retrieved from: http://gacaca.rw, 19 June 2018.

  • Gasanabo, J. (2006). The Rwanda Akazi (Forced Labour) System, History, and Humiliation. Social Alternatives, 25(1), 50–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Rwanda. (1996). Organic Law on the Organization of Prosecutions for Offences Constituting the Crime of Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity Committed Since 1 October 1990, No. 08/96 of 30 August. Kigali, Rwanda.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of the Republic of Rwanda. (1996). Organic Law No. 08/96 on the Organization of Prosecutions for Offences Constituting the Crime of Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity Committed Since October 1, 1990. Kigali, Rwanda: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halpern, J., & Weinstein, H. (2004). Rehumanizing the Other: Empathy and Reconciliation. Human Rights Quarterly, 26(3), 561–583.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphrey, M. (2003). International Intervention, Justice and National Reconciliation: The Role of the ICTY and ICTR in Bosnia and Rwanda. Journal of Human Rights, 2(4), 495–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkby, C. (2006). Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts: A Preliminary Critique. Journal of African Law, 50(2), 94–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longman, T. (2009). An Assessment of Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts. Peace Review, 21(3), 304–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenna, K. (2006). Gacaca: A Paradigm for Restorative Justice in Rwanda. Trinity College Law Review, 9(5), 5–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Megwalu, A., & Loizides, N. (2010). Dilemmas of Justice and Reconciliation: Rwandans and the Gacaca Courts. African Journal of International and Comparative Law, 18(1), 1–23. Retrieved from: http://doi.org/10.3366/E0954889009000486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Møse, E. (2005). Main Achievements of the ICTR. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 3(4), 920–943.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugesera, A. (2014). The Persecution of Rwandan Tutsi Before the 1990–1994 Genocide. Kigali, Rwanda: Rwanda Printery.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nantulya, P. (2006). African Nation-Building and Reconstruction: Lessons from Rwanda. Conflict Trends, 1(1), 45–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Service of Gacaca Courts. (2012). Summary of the Report Presented at the Closing of Gacaca Courts Activities. Kigali, Rwanda: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nsanzuwera, F. X. (2005). The ICTR Contribution to National Reconciliation. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 3(4), 944–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peskin, V. (2005). Beyond Victor’s Justice? The Challenge of Prosecuting the Winners at the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Journal of Human Rights, 4(2), 213–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reyntjens, F., & Vandeginste, S. V. (2005). Rwanda: An Atypical Transition. In E. Skaar, S. Gloppen, & A. Suhrek (Eds.), Roads to Reconciliation (pp. 101–127). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryngaert, C. (2013). State Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. International Criminal Law Review, 13(1), 125–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saul, M. (2012). Local Ownership of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: Restorative and Retributive Effects. International Criminal Law Review, 12(1), 427–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schabas, W. A. (2005). Genocide Trials and Gacaca Courts. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 3(4), 879–895.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straus, S. (2004). How Many Perpetrators Were There in the Rwandan Genocide? An Estimate. Journal of Genocide Research, 6(1), 85–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiemessen, A. (2003). After Arusha: Gacaca Justice in Post-genocide Rwanda (M.A. Thesis). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from: https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/831/1.0091268/1.

  • United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. (2015). The ICTR in Brief. Retrieved from: http://www.unictr.org/en/tribunal.

  • United Nations Security Council. (1994). Resolution 955, S/RES/955. New York: UN HQ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uvin, P., & Mironho, C. (2003). Western and Local Approaches to Justice in Rwanda. Global Governance, 9(2), 219–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Villa-Vicencio, C., Nantulya, P., & Savage, T. (2005). Building Nations: Transitional Justice in the African Great Lakes Region. Cape Town: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werchick, L. (2001). Prospects for Justice in Rwanda’s Citizen Tribunals. Human Rights Brief, 8(3), 15–17, 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westberg, M. (2011). Rwanda’s Use of Transitional Justice After Genocide: The Gacaca Courts and the ICTR. Kansas Law Review, 59(4), 331–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wierzynska, A. (2004). Consolidating Democracy Through Transitional Justice: Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts. New York University Law Review, 79(1), 1934–1969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T. (2011). Procedural Developments at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, 10(1), 351–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zorbas, E. (2004). Reconciliation in Post-genocide Rwanda. African Journal of Legal Studies, 1(1), 29–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gasanabo, JD. (2019). Peace in Rwanda: Balancing the ICTR and “Gacaca” in Postgenocide Peacebuilding. In: Kulnazarova, A., Popovski, V. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Approaches to Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78905-7_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics