Transitional Justice in the Wake of Genocide

Abstract

In the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, the newly formed Rwandan government, civil society organizations, victims' and survivors' groups, and members of the international community adopted a range of transitional justice mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable and to help victims recover from the suffering of the genocidal period. The case of Rwanda offers a unique opportunity to analyze the intersection of criminal and symbolic justice practices, and their contributions to justice and social reconciliation. No accountability mechanism alone could meet the post-genocide legal and societal demands; each had its own pitfalls. Furthermore, without symbolic measures, punitive justice would not be enough. Adopting complementary measures has allowed the country to move toward reconciliation, accountability, and justice. This chapter reviews three justice mechanisms applied in Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), gacaca courts as local justice, and genocide memorialization, and discusses their impact on reconciliation efforts to date. This chapter also recommends a creative and multidimensional approach to transitional justice, grounded in a realistic assessment of key successes and challenges when considering restorative elements as complementary to criminal proceedings. As a research collaboration between a Rwandan legal scholar and an American scholar of memorialization, the authors offer unique viewpoints on transitional justice after genocide in Rwanda.