In 1994, Rwanda experienced 100 days of horrific violence as over one-tenth of its population was killed in a brutal campaign of mass murder. The roots of this conflict trace back to the arrival of German and later Belgian colonizers, who sowed seeds of division between Rwanda’s ethnic groups: the minority Tutsi, who ruled as a monarchy, and the majority Hutu. The Belgians reinforced these divisions by creating a narrative that cast Tutsis as elites and Hutus as ordinary farmers. This propaganda fueled deep-seated political hostility, which persisted even after Rwanda transitioned to an independent republic in 1959, now under Hutu control.
The new Hutu-led government excluded the Tutsi minority from political power, banning exiled Tutsis from returning. In 1990, a small group of Tutsi insurgents, discontented with life in exile, invaded Rwanda, sparking a civil war that lasted three years. Although a peace accord was eventually signed, the aftermath was marked by intense political polarization. In 1994, after a plane carrying the Hutu Rwandan president was shot down, violence erupted again. This time, Hutu officials, determined to maintain power, orchestrated a deadly campaign. Government-backed Hutu militias took to the streets, committing widespread physical and sexual violence against Tutsi civilians and political enemies.
Over the next few months, more than 1 million Hutu civilians joined the genocidal efforts, driven by coercion, fear, or personal motives. Tutsi victims sought refuge in churches and schools, hoping for protection from international organizations, but no external aid came. UN soldiers who had overseen the peace process were ordered to abandon the Tutsi civilians, and UN leadership refused to acknowledge the genocide. The violence finally ceased in mid-July when the Tutsi army, which had initiated the previous civil war, seized control of the country. By the end of the genocide, approximately 800,000 Rwandans had been killed, leaving only a small fraction of the Tutsi population alive.
In the aftermath, the UN established a special tribunal in Tanzania to prosecute the key perpetrators of the genocide. However, with approximately 120,000 Rwandans awaiting trial, the scale of the atrocity made it nearly impossible to prosecute everyone in a timely manner. The Rwandan government, recognizing this challenge, adapted a traditional conflict resolution process called “gacaca,” meaning “justice on the grass.” Gacaca courts, led by lay judges and reliant on community testimony, aimed to expedite justice. Cases were categorized into four groups: masterminding the genocide and committing sexual violence, participating in killings, physical assault, and destroying Tutsi property. Those found guilty of the first two categories were tried in traditional courts, while the others faced penalties that could be reduced with guilty pleas.
Beginning in 2002, thousands of gacaca courts convened weekly. Though the process was faster than conventional courts, public opinion was divided. Some Rwandans were reluctant to accuse their neighbors in a communal setting, and many witnesses were intimidated into silence. Moreover, the trials focused solely on Tutsi victims, overlooking the Hutu casualties from both the genocide and the civil war. When the trials concluded in 2012, 1.7 million individuals had been convicted. For some families, these verdicts offered a measure of justice and dignity for those lost in the violence. For others, the decade-long trials served as a painful reminder of a past they wished to forget.
