The Post-Conflict Landscape in Rwanda: An Analysis of Justice and Reconciliation After the 1994 Genocide

Abstract

This thesis examines the multi-layered post-conflict justice landscape in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide, evaluating how justice and reconciliation operate across international, national, and local levels. It analyzes three primary mechanisms: the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the community based Gacaca courts, and reconciliation villages. This research argues that while these mechanisms represent attempts to rebuild social cohesion, their long-term success depends on policy outcomes and genuine reconciliation efforts. Utilizing a theoretical framework of transitional justice, this thesis investigates the trade-offs between formal legal accountability and restorative social repair. The analysis draws on academic literature, ethnographic accounts, and interviews to bridge the gap between academic theory and everyday life in Rwanda for survivors and perpetrators. The comparative analysis of the ICTR and Gacaca courts reveals the fundamental tension between international legal norms and locally embedded justice practices, each of which produce competing notions of accountability with lasting consequences for reconciliation. The central focus of the thesis is an analysis of reconciliation villages, as established through the faith-based Prison Fellowship Rwanda, and how they have fostered meaningful coexistence through shared labor, economic cooperation, and confession; however, these villages remain structurally limited in scale. The thesis further contends that Rwanda’s post-genocide policy of abolishing ethnic identification has impeded reconciliation by suppressing open acknowledgment of the genocide’s ethnic character. This research concludes that sustainable reconciliation in Rwanda requires a coherent, multi-level policy framework that integrates international accountability, community-based healing, psychosocial support, and space for legitimate historical memory.