Transitional Justice In Rwanda

Author : Gerald Gahima
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 434 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2013-02-15
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781135118532

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Transitional Justice in Rwanda by Gerald Gahima Pdf

Transitional Justice in Rwanda: Accountability for Atrocity comprehensively analyzes the full range of the transitional justice processes undertaken for the Rwandan genocide. Drawing on the author’s extensive professional experience as the principal justice policy maker and the leading law enforcement officer in Rwanda from 1996-2003, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the social, political and legal challenges faced by Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide and the aspirations and legacy of transitional justice. The book explores the role played by the accountability processes not just in pursuing accountability but also in shaping the reconstruction of Rwanda’s institutions of democratic governance and political reconciliation. Central to this exploration will be the examination of whether or not transitional justice in Rwanda has contributed to a foundational rule of law reform process. While recognizing the necessity of pursuing accountability for mass atrocity, the book argues that a maximal approach to accountability for genocide may undermine the promotion of core objectives of transitional justice. Taking on one of the key questions facing practitioners and scholars of transitional justice today, the book suggests that the pursuit of mass accountability, particularly where socio-economic resources and legal capacity is limited, may destabilize the process of rule of law reform, endangering core human rights norms. Moreover, the book suggests that pursuing a strategy of mass accountability may undermine the process of democratic transition, particularly in a context where impunity for crimes committed by the victors of armed conflicts persists. Highlighting the ongoing democratic deficit in Rwanda and resulting political instability in the Great Lakes region, the book argues that the effectiveness of transitional justice ultimately hinges on the nature and success of political transition.

Author : Pietro Sullo
Publisher : Springer
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2018-09-19
Category : Law
ISBN : 9789462652408

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Beyond Genocide: Transitional Justice and Gacaca Courts in Rwanda by Pietro Sullo Pdf

Combining both legal and empirical research, this book explores the statutory aspects and practice of Gacaca Courts (inkiko gacaca), the centrepiece of Rwanda's post-genocide transitional justice system, assessing their contribution to truth, justice and reconciliation. The volume expands the knowledge regarding these courts, assessing not only their performance in terms of formal justice and compliance with human rights standards but also their actual modus operandi. Scholars and practitioners have progressively challenged the idea that genocide should be addressed exclusively through 'westernised' criminal law, arguing that the uniqueness of each genocidal setting requires specific context-sensitive solutions. Rwanda's experience with Gacaca Courts has emerged as a valuable opportunity for testing this approach, offering never previously tried homegrown solutions to the violence experienced in 1994 and beyond. Due to the unprecedented number of individuals brought to trial, the absence of lawyers, the participative nature, and the presence of lay judges directly elected by the Rwandan population, Gacaca Courts have attracted the attention of researchers from different disciplines and triggered dichotomous reactions and appraisals. The tensions existing within the literature are addressed, anchoring the assessment of Gacaca in a comprehensive legal analysis in conjunction with field research. Through the direct observation of Gacaca trials, and by holding interviews and informal talks with survivors, perpetrators, ordinary Rwandans, academics and the staff of NGOs, a purely legalistic perspective is overcome, offering instead an innovative bottom-up approach to meta-legal concepts such as justice, fairness, truth and reconciliation. Outlining their strengths and shortcomings, this book highlights what aspects of Gacaca Courts can be useful in other post-genocide contexts and provides crucial lessons learnt in the realm of transitional justice. The primary audience this book is aimed at consists of researchers working in the areas of international criminal law, transitional justice, genocide, restorative justice, African studies, human rights and criminology, while practitioners, students and others with a professional interest in the topical matters that are addressed may also find the issues raised relevant to their practice or field of study. Pietro Sullo teaches public international law and international diplomatic law at the Brussels School of International Studies of the University of Kent in Brussels. He is particularly interested in international human rights law, transitional justice, international criminal law, constitutional transitions and refugee law. After earning his Ph.D. at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Dr. Sullo worked at the Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg as a senior researcher and as a coordinator of the International Doctoral Research School on Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment. He was also Director of the European Master's Programme in Human Rights and Democratization (E.MA) in Venice from 2013 to 2015 and lastly he has worked for international NGOs and as a legal consultant for the Libya Constitution Drafting Assembly on human rights and transitional justice.

Author : Peter E. Harrell
Publisher : iUniverse
Page : 142 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780595270521

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Rwanda's Gamble by Peter E. Harrell Pdf

Gacaca is an innovative form of justice that the Rwandan government will use to try the more than 100,000 participants in the 1994 genocide. Instead of putting suspects before the statutory-law courts that existed prior to 1994, the government is establishing 11,000 popularly-elected tribunals and charging them with the task of investigating and trying crimes that occurred within their territorial jurisdiction. Officials hope that this will help clear the backlog of cases while giving suspects (most of whom have spent nearly a decade in prison without a trial) a chance finally to have their cases heard. This book provides a detailed explanation of how the system will work, from the selection and training of the judges to the basics of courtroom procedure. It also places gacaca in the context of rapidly emerging restorative theories of justice, and argues for gacaca's appropriateness in the Rwandan context. Based on interviews, training manuals, documents never-before-published in the United States, and extensive travels throughout Rwanda, this book is an invaluable introductory guide to gacaca and explains why similar forms of justice should be experimented with elsewhere.

Author : Nicola Palmer,Nicola Frances Palmer
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780199398195

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Courts in Conflict by Nicola Palmer,Nicola Frances Palmer Pdf

This volume focuses on the practices of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the national Rwandan courts, and the gacaca community courts in post-genocide Rwanda. It emphasizes that, although the courts are compatible in law, an interpretive cultural analysis indicates how and why they have often conflicted in practice.

Author : Phil Clark
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2010-09-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781139490160

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The Gacaca Courts, Post-Genocide Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda by Phil Clark Pdf

Since 2001, the Gacaca community courts have been the centrepiece of Rwanda's justice and reconciliation programme. Nearly every adult Rwandan has participated in the trials, principally by providing eyewitness testimony concerning genocide crimes. Lawyers are banned from any official involvement, an issue that has generated sustained criticism from human rights organisations and international scepticism regarding Gacaca's efficacy. Drawing on more than six years of fieldwork in Rwanda and nearly five hundred interviews with participants in trials, this in-depth ethnographic investigation of a complex transitional justice institution explores the ways in which Rwandans interpret Gacaca. Its conclusions provide indispensable insight into post-genocide justice and reconciliation, as well as the population's views on the future of Rwanda itself.

Author : Charles Villa-Vicencio,Paul Nantulya,Tyrone Savage
Publisher : African Minds
Page : 153 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780958500241

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Building Nations by Charles Villa-Vicencio,Paul Nantulya,Tyrone Savage Pdf

The volume offers a sweeping introduction to the politics of transition in the four principle nations in the African Great Lakes region.

Author : Fanie Du Toit
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 28 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Gacaca justice system
ISBN : 1920219293

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Reconciliation and Transitional Justice by Fanie Du Toit Pdf

Author : Philip Clark,Zachary Daniel Kaufman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 399 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2009-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0231700822

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After Genocide by Philip Clark,Zachary Daniel Kaufman Pdf

"The book features chapters from leading scholars in this field, including William Schabas, Rene Lemarchand, Linda Melvern, Kalypso Nicolaidis, and Jennifer Welsh, along with senior government and non-government officials involved in matters related to Rwanda and transitional justice, including Hassan Bubacar Jallow (prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), Martin Ngoga (prosecutor general of the Republic of Rwanda), and Luis Moreno Ocampo (prosecutor of the International Criminal Court). After Genocide also offers an unprecedented debate between Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Reni Lemarchand on post-genocide memory and governance in Rwanda.".

Author : Heidy Rombouts
Publisher : Intersentia nv
Page : 558 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Compensation> Rehabilitation
ISBN : 9789050954310

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Victim Organisations and the Politics of Reparation by Heidy Rombouts Pdf

Reparation for victims of gross and systematic human rights violations is a contemporary issue gaining increased attention in both national and international politics. Post-conflict societies have to face the legacies of the dark past and dealing with a large group of victims is one of them. Transitional justice mechanisms trying to cope with the past should not overlook the issue of reparation. This research demonstrates how reparation for victims of gross and systematic human rights violations differs from reparation for isolated violations. The Rwandan case study unveils the role of victim organisations in and the competition and politicisation of the reparation debate. Although reparation for victims is a crucial element in transitional justice, it becomes clear that the way in which the reparation debate unfolds does not necessarily contribute to the peaceful future of a post-conflict society. This study argues that remedying the process and debate of the search for reparation will lead to an improved and more constructive reparation policy. Heidy Rombouts is a legal and social scientist (1997, Master of Laws; 1999, Master in Social and Political Sciences, Catholic University of Leuven). In 2004 she obtained a PhD degree in Social and Political Sciences at the University of Antwerp for her research on victim organisations and the politics of reparation. For several years she has been conducting research on transitional justice, human rights and post-conflict situations, including extensive field research in South Africa and Rwanda.

Author : Timothy Longman
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 389 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2017-07-13
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781107678095

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Memory and Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda by Timothy Longman Pdf

A critical exploration of the steps taken to promote peace, reconciliation and justice in post-genocide Rwanda.

Author : Guy Elcheroth,Neloufer de Mel
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2021-11-05
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000475623

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In the Shadow of Transitional Justice by Guy Elcheroth,Neloufer de Mel Pdf

This volume bridges two different research fields and the current debates within them. On the one hand, the transitional justice literature has been shaken by powerful calls to make the doctrine and practice of justice more transformative. On the other hand, collective memory studies now tend to look more closely at meaningful silences to make sense of what nations leave out when they remember their pasts. The book extends the scope of this heuristic approach to the different mechanisms that come under the umbrella of transitional justice, including legal prosecution, truth-seeking and reparations, alongside memorialisation. The 15 chapters included in the volume, written by expert scholars from diverse disciplinary and societal backgrounds, explore a range of practices intended to deal with the past, and how making the invisible visible again can make transitional justice - or indeed, any societal engagement with the past - more transformative. Seeking to combine contextual depth and comparative width, the book features two key case analyses - South Africa and Sri Lanka - alongside discussions of multiple cases, including such emblematic sites as Rwanda and Argentina, but also sites better known for resisting than for embracing international norms of transitional justice, such as Turkey or Côte d’Ivoire. The different contributions, grouped in themed sections, progressively explore the issues, actors and resources that are typically forgotten when societies celebrate their pasts rather than mourning their losses and, in doing so, open new possibilities to build more inclusive processes for addressing the present consequences of past injustice.

Author : Alexander Laban Hinton
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780813550688

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Transitional Justice by Alexander Laban Hinton Pdf

"The origins of this project date back to a 2007 symposium, 'Local justice : global mechanisms and local meanings in the aftermath of mass atrocity, ' held at Rutgers University--Newark [N.J.] ... Several participants later presented papers in a session at the July 2007 meeting of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina."--Acknowledgments.

Author : Bert Ingelaere
Publisher : University of Wisconsin Pres
Page : 253 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2016-12-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9780299309701

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Inside Rwanda's /Gacaca/ Courts by Bert Ingelaere Pdf

Comprehensively documents how local courts after the Rwandan genocide gradually shifted from confession to accusation, from restoration to retribution.

Author : Elin Skaar,Camila Gianella Malca,Trine Eide
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 218 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2015-04-17
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781317696919

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After Violence by Elin Skaar,Camila Gianella Malca,Trine Eide Pdf

After Violence: Transitional Justice, Peace, and Democracy examines the effects of transitional justice on the development of peace and democracy. Anticipated contributions of transitional justice mechanisms are commonly stated in universal terms, with little regard for historically specific contexts. Yet a truth commission, for example, will not have the same function in a society torn by long-term civil war or genocide as in a society emerging from authoritarian repression. Addressing trials, reparations, truth commissions, and amnesties, the book systematically addresses the experiences of four very different contemporary transitional justice cases: post-authoritarian Uruguay and Peru and post-conflict Rwanda and Angola. Its analysis demonstrates that context is a crucial determinant of the impact of transitional justice processes, and identifies specific contextual obstacles and limitations to these processes. The book will be of much interest to scholars in the fields of transitional justice and peacebuilding, as well as students generally concerned with human rights and democratisation.

Author : Paul Christoph Bornkamm
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2012-01-12
Category : History
ISBN : 9780199694471

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Rwanda's Gacaca Courts by Paul Christoph Bornkamm Pdf

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Humboldt University of Berlin, 2009.