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14 S. Cal. Rev. L. & Women's Stud. 167 (2004-2005)
Gender, Sexual Violence and Prospects for Justice at the Gacaca Courts in Rwanda

handle is hein.journals/scws14 and id is 173 raw text is: GENDER, SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND PROSPECTS FOR JUSTICE AT THE GACACA COURTS IN RWANDA* SARAH L. WELLS** I. INTRODUCTION Between April and July 1994, soldiers, youth militia and ordinary citizens killed approximately 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda.' Some estimates hypothesize that up to one million Rwandans * © 2005 Sarah L. Wells. ** LL.M., New York University; J.D., University of Toronto; B.A., York University. Field research and interviews for this Article were conducted in Rwanda, from June 2003 through August 2003, and were funded by New York University Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. The author wishes to thank, in particular, Julie Christoffel for her valuable assistance and insights, the many men and women in Rwanda that shared their experiences and views on post-genocide justice in the country and Brent Clode for ten years of immense support. I, The history of Rwanda and the multiple causes underlying the 1994 genocide are enormously complicated. Though the author does not purport to fully address all issues here, a brief introduction may be useful. In Rwanda, Hutu and Tutsi are complex ethnic identities. Prior to the genocide, the Hutu comprised approximately 85% of the Rwandan population, the Tutsi comprised roughly 14% of the population and a third group, the indigenous Twa, comprised less than 1% of the population. Historically, the Hutu and Tutsi shared the same language, culture, religion and communities. Though differences between the two groups existed, Christian missionaries and colonizers in the early twentieth century greatly exaggerated and institutionalized such differences. Belgian colonizers privileged a small group of Tutsi and used them to help in ruling the country. In the 1930s, the Belgians issued identity cards and required every Rwandan to register as Hutu, Tutsi or Twa. Prior to Rwanda's independence in the late 1950s, the Hutu demanded and succeeded in gaining majority control. Thereafter, Rwanda was ruled by two different Hutu military dictatorships, under which a series of anti-Tutsi campaigns led to significant Tutsi refugee movements into neighboring countries. In 1990, a predominantly Tutsi army called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which was bom out of the refugee camps in neighboring Uganda, invaded Rwanda. A civil war ensued. Partially in an attempt to maintain political power, the Hutu dictatorship launched a campaign to mobilize the Hutu majority against the RPF and all Tutsi in the country. On April 6, 1994, Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane was shot down as he returned from peace talks with the RPF in neighboring Tanzania. His assassination provided an excuse for Hutu extremists to launch a well-planned genocide against the minority Tutsi. In one hundred days, soldiers, youth militia and ordinary citizens killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu that opposed the genocidal regime. See generally ALISON DES FORGES, LEAVE ONE TO TELL THE STORY: GENOCIDE IN RWANDA (Human Rights Watch, 1999), available at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda! (last

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