Punishing Mass Atrocity Crimes: The Case of Rwanda

• In Event: Mass Atrocity Crimes: Understanding Dynamics, Actions and Actors?

Abstract

In April 1994, more than one million people were killed in the genocide in Rwanda, and another million were implicated as perpetrators. In response to this atrocity, the Government of Rwanda created the gacaca courts, a traditional community-based justice system that was greatly modified to address crimes of genocide. It has been almost twenty years since the genocide occurred, and the gacaca courts have recently closed. Yet, despite their promise, the outcomes of the gacaca courts have yet to be systematically analyzed. Accordingly, this project draws upon a database of gacaca trials to answer two questions: 1) Who participated in the genocide? 2) What sanctions were given to those found guilty? Using gacaca trial data, we first explore the age and sex distributions of those found guilty of genocidal crimes. Then, we present an overview of the outcomes of the courts with a focus on the specific sanctions given to those found guilty. This project provides the first complete analysis of the perpetrators and the sanctions, contributing both an empirical overview and new insights into how Rwanda attempted to bring justice to the many citizens who took part in the genocidal violence.

Authors

• Hollie Nyseth Brehm, Ohio State University

• Christopher Uggen, University of Minnesota