Punishment in Transition: Empirical Comparison of Post-Genocide Sentencing Practices in Rwandan Domestic Courts and at the ICTR

Barbora Holá Amani Chibashimba The authors would like to thank Thijs Bouwknegt, Alette Smeulers, Joris van Wijk, and Martin Witteveen for their invaluable comments on the earlier draft of this chapter; Jean Pierre Tuyishima, Kayumba Godfrey, Pascaline Umutesi and Mazimpaka Eddy for data collection and coding of judgments in Rwanda; and Jessica Kelder and Claire Boost for their research assistance. The research has been funded by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) as part of its VENI granting scheme. In about three-and-a-half months following 6 April 1994, a small faction of hardliners within Rwanda’s ruling party and military took over power, organised and directed the most rapid mass killing campaign of the twentieth century. One of the distinctive characteristics of the violence was a broad popular participation of the Hutu majority population. It was a deliberate, systematic, genocidal campaign executed by thousands of perpetrators, which led to the deaths...