Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home Africana Periodical Literature Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Learning from the past: three lessons from the Rwandan genocide
Author:Clark, JanineISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:African Studies
Volume:68
Issue:1
Pages:1-28
Language:English
Geographic term:Rwanda
Subjects:genocide
1994
offenders
legal procedure
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/00020180902827340
Abstract:This article explores some of the lessons that can be learnt from the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The first of these is that the génocidaires should not be dehumanized. This is simply to engage in the very process that made genocide possible in the first place. Rather, they should be given a voice. As the work of authors such as Hatzfield, McDoom, Mironko and Straus demonstrates, perpetrators' stories can offer an important 'insider' perspective into events and add richness and texture to top-down elitist accounts of the genocide. The second lesson is that while it may be comforting to believe that genocide is only carried out by monsters and psychopaths, the reality is that it is ordinary people who, under certain circumstances, commit genocide. Hence, it should not be seen as a crime that can only occur in 'faraway' places. The final lesson, which pertains to how we deal with the perpetrators of genocide and mass crimes, is that retributive justice is not a panacea in either postgenocide Rwanda or in postconflict societies more generally. Perpetrators should be held accountable for their crimes, but criminal trials have limitations, particularly in facilitating reconciliation. Rather than relying exclusively on retributive justice, therefore, postconflict societies should wherever possible seek to combine criminal trials with restorative justice mechanisms. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
Views
Cover