Rwanda
This country page describes, in brief, data that TJET has compiled on regime transitions, intrastate conflict episodes, and transitional justice mechanisms. For details on the data included on this page, view the FAQ.
For Rwanda, TJET has collected information on: six amnesties between 1974 and 2007; 40 domestic trials starting between 1985 and 2018; 30 foreign trials starting between 1995 and 2020; 76 international trials starting between 1994 and 2012; two reparations policies created between 1998 and 2008; and two truth commissions mandated between 1993 and 1999.
Select any transitional justice mechanism in the table below to view a timeline in the figure.
Country Background
Democratic Transition
TJET records no democratic transitions in Rwanda between 1970 and 2020.
Paul Kagame, leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), has been President of Rwanda since 2000, and his party has led the country since 1994. The RPF is credited with ending the country’s civil war and ousting the perpetrators of the genocide; it is also accused of imposing victor’s justice, exiling journalists, and carrying out extrajudicial killings. There are considerable restrictions on free speech: the government enforces an official narrative on the genocide and censors speech that could promote “divisionism." It also censors criticism of the government. Rwanda has a semi-presidential system in which there are formally multiple parties and regular elections, but also evident irregularities, alleged harassment, and myriad efforts to maintain RPF hegemony. The 2015 constitutional reforms shortened presidential and senate term lengths but nevertheless would allow Kagame to rule, if reelected, until 2034.
Violent Conflict
Based on the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, TJET records eight violent intrastate conflict episodes between 1990 and 2020 (during 19 calendar years), involving five distinct armed opposition groups fighting against the government. Six conflict episodes were internationalized by involvement of external state actors.
Ethnic conflict in Rwanda dates to the colonial era, when German and Belgian divide-and-rule policies disrupted largely peaceful relations between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. In October 1990, now-president Paul Kagame led a rebel group of Tutsis who had been exiled to Uganda, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, into a war against the Rwandan Armed Forces. After a year of negotiations, periodically interrupted by renewed fighting, the parties signed the Arusha Accords. The Accords laid out a tentative peace through power sharing. Any hope of its success was shattered upon the assassination of Hutu then-president Juvenal Habyarimana, for which Tutsis were blamed.
The Rwandan genocide immediately followed, lasting from April 7 to July 15, 1994, in which an estimated 800,000 and 1.1 million people were killed. At least 500,000 were Tutsi and many Hutu and Twa people were also killed, and there was widespread sexual violence. The genocide ended after the RPF quickly resumed the civil war, captured all territory from government forces and pushed génocidaires across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions. Source: UCDP Dyadic Dataset version 23.1, https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/index.html#dyadic.
Transitional Justice Data
As of 2020, Rwanda ranks 41st out of 174 on TJET’s legacy of violence index. For a full list of country rankings over time, view the index page, and for an explanation of the index, view the Methods & FAQs page.
Amnesties
Rwanda had six amnesties between 1974 and 2007. Three were passed after internal armed conflict. One amnesty released political prisoners. Four amnesties forgave human rights violations.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
Domestic Trials
TJET has compiled data on 40 domestic prosecutions between 1985 and 2020. These include 20 regular human rights prosecutions of state agents, in which 16 persons were convicted; 16 intrastate conflict prosecutions of state agents, in which twelve persons were convicted; two intrastate conflict prosecutions of opposition members, in which one person was convicted; and two opposition prosecutions of state agents or opposition members, in which three persons were convicted. In three trials that involved high-ranking state agents, one person was convicted.
Click on accused records for data on convictions. Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
International or Hybrid Trials
Nationals of Rwanda were subject to 68 international prosecutions between 1994 and 2017, which led to 62 convictions.
Click on accused records for data on convictions. Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
Foreign Trials
Nationals of Rwanda were defendants in 30 foreign prosecutions in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland beginning between 1995 and 2020.
Click on accused records for data on convictions. Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
Reparations Policies
Rwanda implemented two reparations policies, starting in 1998. TJET found no information on the total number of beneficiaries.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
Truth Commissions
Rwanda mandated two truth commissions in 1993 and 1999. The commissions completed their operations in 1993 and 2002. The commissions issued final reports, which are publicly available. The reports included recommendations for prosecutions, reparations, and institutional reforms.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
UN Investigations
Rwanda was subject to two UN investigations between 1994 and 1998.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.