For 100 days in 1994,
the African country of Rwanda suffered a horrific campaign
of mass murder. Neighbor turned against neighbor
as violence engulfed the region, resulting in the deaths of over one-tenth
of the country’s population. The seeds of this conflict were
planted a century earlier, first when German, and later Belgian,
colonizers arrived in the country. At the time, Rwanda was ruled
by a monarchy of Tutsi, one of the three ethnic groups
comprising the population. Tutsi and the even smaller Twa communities
were minority groups, while Hutu composed the majority. Many Hutus and Tutsi civilians
were on good terms, but colonial powers encouraged
political division. Belgians enforced record keeping
around ethnic identity, and created a public narrative that cast
Tutsi as elite rulers and Hutu as ordinary farmers. Over time, this propaganda led
to intense political hostility. And while colonial powers had
largely withdrawn by 1959, lingering anger motivated a Hutu revolt, forcing many Tutsi leaders
to flee the country. Over the following decade, Rwanda transitioned to an independent
republic with a Hutu government. This new administration argued
that as the majority group, Hutu deserved exclusive access
to political power. They excluded the Tutsi minority
by appointing offices based on population and prohibited the return of Tutsi
families that had fled years earlier. Hutu extremists also circulated propaganda blaming Tutsi for the country’s economic,
social, and political problems. Discontent with their life in exile, a small group of Tutsi insurgents
invaded Rwanda in 1990, beginning a violent civil war. The conflict lasted three years before it
was resolved with a formal peace accord. But the war’s aftermath was
rife with insecurity. While some civilians in both groups
remained amicable, the treaty intensified
political polarization. And in 1994, when a plane carrying
the Hutu Rwandan president was shot down, the conflict broke out anew. This time, Hutu officials had prepared
a deadly response to ensure they stayed in power. Working off a list of targets, government-funded Hutu militias
flooded the streets, perpetrating acts of physical
and sexual violence against Tutsi political enemies
and civilians. Over the chaotic following months, over 1 million Hutu civilians joined
their ranks due to coercion, self-preservation, or the pursuit
of personal agendas. Tutsi victims sought refuge
at churches and schools where they hoped international
organizations would protect them, but no outside party came to their aid. UN soldiers who’d overseen
the Peace Accord were instructed to abandon
Tutsi civilians, and UN leadership refused to acknowledge
the genocide taking place. The violence didn’t end until mid-July, when the Tutsi army—
who instigated the previous civil war— seized control of the country. By the time the fighting was over, roughly 800,000 Rwandans had been killed, and only a small fraction of the
Tutsi population was left alive. In the months that followed, there was no easy strategy for bringing
the killers to justice. The UN established a special tribunal
in Tanzania to try the key perpetrators. But Hutu civilians from every level
of society had committed atrocities against their neighbors, friends,
and even family members. There were roughly 120,000 Rwandans
awaiting trial, and inmates were dying from overcrowding
and poor hygiene. The new Rwandan government estimated
it would take 100 years to prosecute every accused civilian in national court. So officials determined
the best path forward involved looking to the country’s past. Rwanda has a traditional process for resolving interpersonal conflicts
called gacaca. Roughly translating
to “justice on the grass,” gacaca had long been used to address
offenses within villages. Local witnesses would offer testimony and could then speak for
or against the accused. Then, appointed lay judges would determine
an appropriate penalty within the community’s means. In the hope of trying perpetrators
more quickly, the government adapted gacaca
for their formal courts. These hybrid trials had
no professional attorneys or judges, and no evidence outside the spoken word and a case file detailing the crimes
of the accused. All charges were then divided
into four categories: masterminding the genocide
and committing acts of sexual violence, participating in the killings,
physical assault, or destroying Tutsi property. Those found guilty
of the first two categories were entered into the
traditional court system, but the other crimes were
assigned set penalties which could be reduced
if the accused pled guilty. Beginning in 2002, thousands of gacaca
courts convened every week. The process proved faster
than conventional courts, but Rwandan opinion on the trials
was mixed. Some didn’t want to accuse
their neighbors in a community setting, and many potential witnesses were
intimidated to prevent their testimony. Additionally, while the trial showed that
not all Hutu participated in the killings, the courts only reviewed cases
with Tutsi victims, ignoring the Hutu casualties incurred
during the genocide and the preceding civil war. When the trials concluded in 2012, the courts had convicted
1.7 million individuals. For some families, these verdicts
helped restore the dignity of those lost in the violence. For others, the trials
were a decade-long reminder of a past they were desperate
to leave behind.
