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Title:
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Women Survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide: Learning to Live with HIV/AIDS, and to Forgive the Perpetrators Under the New Gacaca Restorative Justice System
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Author:
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Mubangizi, Abdu
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Source:
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6th International Conference on Restorative Justice
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Date:
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06/01/2003
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Subject:
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Applications of Practice (stories) - Nations
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Call Number:
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250.60.01
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Type:
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Paper
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Abstract:
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Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Restorative Justice, June 2003:
Stories have bee told; yet there is more untold and still to be told by Rwandan women victims of HIV/AIDS acquired during the
genocide in 1994. Many Rwandan women went through brutal, disgraceful, embarrassing and indignifying situations through out
the three months of the genocide. Nothing can reveal the scope and type of violence and hatred in our society than the Rwandan
women living with HIV/AIDS today. Majority of these victims have been traumatized and almost all have been widowed, left with
orphans without the means to confront the daily life challenges. Today in Rwanda, a new form of administering justice for the
genocide trials has been introduced. Gacaca as it is known, is bent on speeding up the genocide trials as well as revealing the
truth of what happened during the genocide. The system will heavily rely on testimonies by genocide survivors (including women
victims of HIV/AIDS) and all Rwandese people who witnessed these atrocities. It is envisaged that once the truth has been
established, those found guilty will ask for forgiveness not only from the surviving victims and their family members, but
also to the Rwandan society at large, after which their convictions will be commuted and released, all in the name of fostering
unity and reconciliation. In this presentation, I intend to carry out a critical analysis of the new system of administering
justice in Rwanda (which is one form of restorative justice), by reviewing its capacity to handle the problems that are likely
to emerge such as trauma as victims testify, and forced forgiveness when the victim still wants retributive justice rather
than restorative justice.
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