Witnesses to Genocide: Experiences of Witnessing in the Rwandan Gacaca Courts

Abstract

The aim of this exploratory study was to bring understanding to the experiences of witnesses who have given testimony in the post-genocide Rwandan gacaca courts. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 8 women. The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis method was used, and resulted in 3 main findings: (a) Witnessing can have a negative impact on psychological health; (b) revealing the truth through gacaca can be perceived as emotionally distressing, but also relieving; and (c) witnessing can either create increased hostility or reconciliation in the relationship between the witness and the perpetrator. These varied results shed light on the complex experiences of those who witness in gacaca, and suggest that different factors within the gacaca process contribute to both positive and negative perceptions of the witnessing experience.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the partial funding of this research by the Minor Field Studies Scholarship provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. We owe our deepest gratitude to the women who participated in our study and shared their experiences with us. We are particularly grateful for the invaluable effort, engagement, and generosity of the people at the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST) in Rwanda. Our sincere gratitude goes to Dr Nduwayezu Jean Baptiste, Director General of IRST, who facilitated our collaboration with IRST and who was always available for guidance and support. We also thank Karen Brounéus for her generous advice and inspiration. Finally, we express our appreciation for the careful editing of our article to Rachel Hastings of Bates College in Maine.

Notes

¹For the duration of this manuscript, the gacaca courts will be referred to merely as “gacaca.”

²Each respondent is numerically identified (1–8).

Richard V. Wagner served as action editor for this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ulrika Funkeson

Ulrika Funkeson graduated from the master's program of psychology at Linköping University in June 2010. She is currently working as a psychologist in out-patient psychiatric health care in Norway.

Emelie Schröder

Emelie Schröder graduated from the master's program of psychology at Linköping University in June 2010. She is currently working as a psychologist in primary care in Sweden.

Jacques Nzabonimpa

Jacques Nzabonimpa holds a PhD in political psychology, and is currently working as the Director of the Research Program in Arts and Human Sciences at the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research in Rwanda.

Rolf Holmqvist

Rolf Holmqvist is a professor of clinical psychology at Linköping University.