Should Gacaca Courts Provide Restorative or Retributive Justice?

The challenge for the Gacaca Courts lies in the tension between the intended goals of justice the courts are meant to provide. The courts are charged with the dual challenge of retributive justice — the punishment of the perpetrators of horrendous crimes — and restorative justice — the restoration of durable peace, cooperation, and order to a nation that wishes to acknowledge its past while struggling to move forward in a positive direction. Retributive justice, the dominant paradigm for dealing with human rights abuses since World War II and the Nuremberg trials, reinforces the belief that the primary road to justice is through criminal prosecution (Bolocan 2004, 357). Retributive justice deters future human rights abusers and fosters respect for the rule of law and new democratic order (Bolocan 2004, 358). Moreover, retributive justice, by dispensing justice through criminal trials, may also favor reconciliation between victims and offenders. If dispensed through international ...  more