Revista CIDOB d'Afers Internacionals (Oct 2009)
Traditional justice in the reconciliation between Rwanda and Burundi
Abstract
This article reviews the use of traditional justice in two post-conflicts in the Great Lakes region: those of Rwanda and Burundi. In Rwanda, the government, led by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (FPR), has modernised and shaped for its own interests the gacaca, who are responsible for seeking justice for the victims of the 1994 genocide. In Burundi, the government has yet not deployed all the transitional justice mechanisms as envisaged in the Arusha agreement. The bushingantahe (the rehabilitation of whom is also envisaged in the agreement) have not yet been incorporated into transitional justice.
