Gacaca - Rwanda’s story of Restorative Justice

Following genocide or crimes of against humanity, there are always efforts to hold leaders accountable and bring some form of justice. But no other time in modern history has there been an attempt to bring ordinary men and women  to account for their crimes contributing to genocide. The people of Rwanda took on this challenge because they believed accountability was crucial to building lasting peace and authentic healing. Over the course of 10 years, using more than 12,000 Community Based Courts they presided over more than 1.9 million cases. There was a belief that if ordinary people could play key rolls in the acts of genocide, ordinary people could also play key roles in the healing journey afterwards.