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Indigenous Legal Traditions in Transitional Justice Processes: Examining the Gacaca in Rwanda and the Bashingantahe in Burundi

Litanga, Patrick B.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1331746081

Abstract Details

2012, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Political Science (Arts and Sciences).
In the efforts to address the aftermath of the 1990s conflicts, the Rwandan and the Burundian post-conflict states incorporated the indigenous legal traditions of gacaca and bashingantahe in their transitional justice processes. Although scholarly literature has become more critical of post-conflict states' efforts to include local mechanisms of justice in transitional justice processes, in the cases of Rwanda and Burundi, most analyses focus on the effectiveness of the gacaca and bashingantahe as individual phenomena. This thesis asks questions that have not yet been given sufficient considerations. It focuses on jurisdictional differences between the gacaca and the bashingantahe. For instance, the gacaca's decisions are legally binding while bashingantahe's decisions only serve as advises, the gacaca are strictly controlled but the bashingantahe have some autonomy (Longman, 2009, Nindorera, 2007). How can we account for these differences? Historical and contemporaneous similarities and interconnections between Rwanda and Burundi compel us to study the gacaca and the bashingantahe comparatively. Olsen, Payne, and Reiter (2010) explain that the adoption of specific transitional justice methods dependent on economic, cultural, political, and military constraints of particular post-conflict societies. Without neglecting the pertinence of international factors, this thesis examines how domestic factors might have influenced the incorporation of the gacaca and the bashingantahe in the transitional justice processes. Hence, this thesis wishes to argue that jurisdictional differences between the gacaca and the bashingantahe can be explained by differences in the 1990s conflict dynamics, the method of conflict termination, shifts in the composition of the ruling political coalitions, and the way ethnicity is addressed by the post-conflict state.
Brandon Kendhammer, PhD (Committee Chair)
Haley Duschinski, PhD (Committee Member)
Andrew Ross, PhD (Committee Member)
122 p.
African Studies; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Peace Studies; Political Science
gacaca; bashingantahe; indigenous legal traditions; transitional justice; post-conflict reconstruction; African Great Lakes region

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Litanga, P. B. (2012). Indigenous Legal Traditions in Transitional Justice Processes: Examining the Gacaca in Rwanda and the Bashingantahe in Burundi [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1331746081

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Litanga, Patrick. Indigenous Legal Traditions in Transitional Justice Processes: Examining the Gacaca in Rwanda and the Bashingantahe in Burundi. 2012. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1331746081.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Litanga, Patrick. "Indigenous Legal Traditions in Transitional Justice Processes: Examining the Gacaca in Rwanda and the Bashingantahe in Burundi." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1331746081

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1331746081
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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.