On February 19, 2025, from 15:00 am to 17:00, Center for Sub-Saharan African Studies of the Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) at Tsinghua University hosted the first lecture of the 2024-2025 spring semester “Rwanda's Judicial Solutions after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi”. The lecture was held both online and offline and was delivered by Dr. Alphonse Muleefu, Senior Lecturer and Acting Principal of the College of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Rwanda. The event was moderated by Ms. Zhang Shuibei, a PhD Candidate at the Institute for International and Area Studies, Tsinghua University.
About 40 people attended the lecture, including IIAS faculty members and doctoral students, scholars and students from both home and abroad, and others interested in the topic.
Dr. Alphonse Muleefu first explained in detail the aftermath of the Genocide. More than 1,000,000 civilians had been killed in a period of 3 months by perpetrators of genocide including annihilation of families and sometimes communities. About 3.000.000 Rwandans had fled to neighboring countries mainly in DR Congo and Tanzania and others were living in IDP camps. The country accommodated thousands of widows, the crippled and orphans.
Justice sector was completely destroyed. Out of 700 magistrates only 244 were left in the country, out of 70 prosecutors only 12 were present, and out of 631 supporting staff and clerks only 137 were remaining. There were about 35 lawyers and 18 interns left to defend suspects. There was no law punishing genocide in 1994. At International level, following the establishment of International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1993, Rwanda requested the United Nations Security Council to create an international tribunal which it did under the Resolution S/RES/955(1994). At national level, from 31 October 1995 to 3 Nov 1995, a conference bringing together international experts, researchers and activists was organized to discuss the question of justice in Rwanda. On August 30th 1996 an Organic Law n°08/96 establishing organisation and prosecution of offences constituting the crime of genocide or other crimes against humanity was passed.
By 2002, the number of judicial personnel had risen from 244 magistrates to 700, from 12 prosecutors to 246, from 59 court clerks to 325 and from 56 to 123 administrative assistants in the prosecution services, albeit a few of them had a law degree but massive training of about 6 months for people to act as judges, prosecutors, investigators and other court supporting staff were organized. With these efforts, it can be argued that the transitional government had managed to somewhat reestablish the pre-1994 genocide situation. However, this system was unable to deal with the magnitude of cases. Discussions that were held in the President’s Office between 1998 and 1999, famously knowns as Village Urugwiro meetings resolved that another alternative solution had to be adopted and that is how Gacaca Courts were created (Inkiko-Gacaca).
The missions of Gacaca Courts include: To disclose the truth on the genocide events, to speed up Genocide trials and to eradicate the culture of impunity. The Judges in Gacaca Courts were called Inyangamugayo (Persons with high integrity): they were men and women elected by the general population.
By 2012, when Gacaca Courts were closing – Inyangamugayo (lay judges): men and women of integrity – closed their activities after completing about two million cases in a period of 10 years. The conservation of memory is being achieved under various forms including decent burrial of genocide victims’ remains, at least 90% of the victims of genocide have received decent burial, the construction of memorial sites, the commemoration of genocide as well as documentation on genocide.
In the Q&A session after the lecture, Dr. Alphonse Muleefu had a lively discussion with IIAS teachers and students from online and offline participants on issues such as the procedures of the Gacaca court and the training process, the role played by Gacaca judges in transitional justice processes, and Dr. Muleefu's personal experiences in transitional justice practices.
Dr. Alphonse Muleefu is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law and Acting Principal of the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS). He is also a member of Rwanda Bar Association. Previously, Dr Muleefu worked as a Legal Researcher at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), a Legal Intern at International Criminal Court (ICC) and Legal Officer with Gacaca Courts. He holds a Bachelor of laws (LLB) from the National University of Rwanda (as it was then) as well as a Master of Laws (LLM) in Public International and European Law and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Law from Tilburg University, The Netherlands. He conducted a post-doctorate research at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Muleefu has attended several short courses on Children’s Rights (June 2019) and international criminal law (July 2008) at Leiden University-Netherlands, Transitional Justice (May 2009) at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), and an International Investigator Course (November 2008) at the Institute of International Criminal Investigations, Netherlands. Currently, he teaches several courses including International Humanitarian Law, Policing and Human rights, Rule of Law and Public Security, and supervises different masters and PhD students. He is a regular commentator on different current issues in his area of specialization, and a blogger on legal and international affairs. He is a co-founder of a Summer Institute on Transitional Justice.
