ABSTRACT
The justice component of reconciliation is naturally more directly served by conflict-related trials. This chapter assesses the impact of the Kabgayi Trial on national reconciliation in an effort to better understand the effects of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on reconciliation in Rwanda. It provides background on the Rwandan genocide and related accountability processes, and a description of the Kabgayi Trial. ICTR proponents explain that the Tribunal has helped Rwanda's reconciliation process through establishing individual criminal responsibility for the genocide and producing a historical record of the crimes. The creators of the ICTR have embraced Antonio Cassese's position when they mandated the Tribunal to promote national reconciliation. The genocide was perpetrated towards the end of a four-year civil war between Hutu-dominated government forces and the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel group. The new RPF-led government adopted a policy of maximum accountability for genocide-related crimes, implemented through criminal trials in both conventional courts and community-based 'gacaca' courts.
