ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the controversy surrounding gacaca and suggests some points of reflection as the process has reached a formal close. In 2001 the government of Rwanda began a pilot program to test the efficacy of a community justice program, gacaca, which would serve as the primary mechanism for accountability and reconciliation for those rank-and-file participants in the genocide. The gacaca courts created and implemented in 2004, however, differ in four important ways from the historical courts. Many scholars and policy makers alike see gacaca as an important success in the use of local forms of transitional justice to bridge social divides. Human rights critiques center on what is perceived to be the "victor's justice" nature of the gacaca process. The legacy of the gacaca courts be in the ability of this attempt at reconciliation to maintain peace in the country and support the growth and development of a new generation of Rwandans advancing beyond ethnic divisions and hatred.
