Gacaca court

Summary

The Gacaca courts were a system of transitional justice in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide. 'Gacaca', meaning "short grass" referred to the public space where neighborhood male elders (abagabo) would meet to solve local problems. The name was chosen in 2001 for the national criminal justice system created in order to try those implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which 520,000 to 702,000 people were killed. In 1994, the United Nations Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to try high-ranking government and army officials accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Legally established in 2001, the Gacaca courts began conducting trials in 2002 and proliferated throughout the country by early 2007. The Gacaca courts were presented as a method of transitional justice, claimed by the Rwandan government to promote communal healing and rebuilding in the wake of the genocide.