Why did Rwanda use gacaca courts?
The Gacaca courts were presented as a method of transitional justice, claimed by the Rwandan government to promote communal healing and rebuilding in the wake of the Rwandan Genocide. Rwanda has especially focused on community rebuilding placing justice in the hands of trusted citizens.
What did the Gacaca courts do?
The solution was gacaca: a system of 12,000 community-based courts that sought to try genocide criminals while promoting forgiveness by victims, ownership of guilt by criminals, and reconciliation in communities as a way to move forward.
When did gacaca trials end?
The first gacaca trials started in 2005. They were set to end in late 2007, but the deadline was repeatedly extended over the following three years. In mid-July 2010, the government announced that the last gacaca trials in the country had been completed.
When were the Gacaca courts created?
2001
Faced with this reality, the Rwandan government created the gacaca courts in 2001. They were subsequently introduced in a small number of pilot areas in two phases in 2002, and at national level in early 2005.
What is Mato Oput?
Mato oput is both a process and ritual ceremony to restore relationships between clans in the case of intentional or accidental killing. While the process is similar across the different clans in Acholi, the ceremony itself varies from clan to clan.
Who was prosecuted for the Rwandan genocide?
13 others were still at large, some suspected to be dead. The first trial, of Jean-Paul Akayesu, began in 1997. Jean Kambanda, interim Prime Minister, pleaded guilty….Trial Chamber III.
| # | 1. |
|---|---|
| Judge | Vagn Joensen |
| Country | Denmark |
| Status | President ICTR, presiding judge |
What is Rwanda doing in Mozambique?
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has arrived in Mozambique, where he has deployed some 1,000 soldiers to help local security forces tackle fighters wreaking havoc in the country’s north.
How many gacaca trials did Bert Ingelaere observe?
Bert Ingelaere, based on his observation of two thousand gacaca trials, offers a comprehensive assessment of what these courts set out to do, how they worked, what they achieved, what they did not achieve, and how they affected Rwandan society.
What did Rwanda do after the 1994 genocide?
After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, victims, perpetrators, and the country as a whole struggled to deal with the legacy of the mass violence. The government responded by creating a new version of a traditional grassroots justice system called gacaca.
How did the Gacaca shift from confession to accusation?
Weaving together vivid firsthand recollections, interviews, and trial testimony with systematic analysis, Ingelaere documents how the gacaca shifted over time from confession to accusation, from restoration to retribution. He precisely articulates the importance of popular conceptions of what is true and just.
Why was Rwanda an important experiment in transitional justice?
Marked by methodological sophistication, extraordinary evidence, and deep knowledge of Rwanda, this is an authoritative, nuanced, and bittersweet account of one of the most important experiments in transitional justice after mass violence.