Source: (2014) San Diego International Law Journal. 16:119-208.
A major question for post-conflict governments to consider is how
best to shape reconciliation efforts. This Article examines two transitional
justice mechanisms that were utilized in Rwanda’s post genocide era and
assesses their contributions to reconciliation. The two principal approaches
which emerged in the Rwandan context were the establishment of
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), via the international
political community whilst grassroots efforts within Rwanda were channeled
through the gacaca court system. While each of these systems, though
unintended and incoherent hybrid justice strategies, possessed strengths
and weaknesses, this legal pluralist structure nevertheless yielded
positive reconciliation results.
The Article posits that this legal pluralist system did not represent a
perfect mechanism for attaining all reconciliation goals. It did, however,
function to facilitate reconciliation as a process that demands transitional
justice individually and collectively, as well as highlight gaps in the
system that were largely and ostensibly filled by a number of
constructive initiatives instituted by the Rwandan government in their
continued reconstruction of Rwanda.(excerpt)
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