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18 Afr. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 1 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/afjincol18 and id is 1 raw text is: DILEMMAS OF JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION: RWANDANS AND THE GACACA COURTS AMAKA MEGWALU * AND NEOPHYTOS LOIZIDES Abstract Following the 1994 genocide, several justice initiatives were implemented in Rwanda, including a tribunal established by the United Nations, Rwanda's national court system and Gacaca, a 'traditional' community-run conflict resolution mechanism adapted to prosecute genocide perpetrators. Since their inception in 2001, the Gacaca courts have been praised for their efficiency and for widening participation, but criticised for lack of due process, trained personnel and attention to atrocities committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). To evaluate these criticisms, we present preliminary findings from a survey of 227 Rwandans and analyse their attitudes towards Gacaca in relation to demographic characteristics such as education, residence and loss of relatives during the genocide. I. INTRODUCTION Since gaining independence over forty-five years ago, Rwanda has been embroiled in a vicious cycle of violence and vengeance, culminating in the 1994 genocide. Between April and July 1994, unprecedented large-scale violence resulted in the deaths of at least 500,000 (and possibly up to 810,000) Tutsis and moderate • Amaka Megwalu is a graduate student at Harvard Law School. She has worked on development and post-conflict reconstruction in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. She is the 2005-6 recipient of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School Senior Thesis Prize as well as the Law and Public Affairs and the University Center for Human Values' prizes for her thesis 'Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Gacaca Courts in Rwanda'. Contact: amegwalu@gmail.com •* Neophytos Loizides is Lecturer in International Politics and Ethnic Conflict at Queen's University Belfast. He has been Research Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and has taught at the Politics Department at Princeton University. He has published in Nationalities Papers, Electoral Studies, Security Dialogue, International Studies Perspectives, Southeast European Politics, Weltpolitik and Etudes Helleniques/Hellenic Studies. He also has articles forthcoming in Journal of Peace Research and Parliamentary Affairs. Contact: n.loizides@qub.ac.uk 1 We are grateful to the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, whose funding assistance made several research trips to Rwanda possible. We would also like to thank Gary Bass, Nicos Trimildiniotis, Elizabeth Thompson and Ayse Uskul for providing valuable support and comments in the preparation of this article. The usual disclaimers apply. 18 RADIC (20010) DOI: 10.3366/E0954889009000486

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