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Evaluation: strengths and weaknesses 
Most of the features of the Gacaca have a strong and a weak side, either because there are 
two dimensions to the feature or because it is perceived from a different angle. An overview of 
the most striking characteristics follows. We present them along a continuum from the strongest 

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(points 1-3) to absolute weakness (points 5-7). Point 4 at the centre of this spectrum embodies as 
many strengths as weaknesses. 
1.
Ordinary Rwandans prefer the Gacaca courts over the national courts and the ICTR: for 
dealing with the genocide crimes. For the ordinary peasant the classical tribunals are both: 
physically and psychologically remote institutions. Although their thoughts on the ICTR 
may be partly mediated by the media reports and sensitization campaigns, they sincerely 
prefer the justice of proximity, despite its problems. In the decade 11 before the state-saS 
2.
Women have taken up an important role in the Gacaca proceedings: 
This is in line with 
developments in other domains of Rwandan society. The old Gacaca, like society as a whole, 
was dominated by men. While the genocide was equally mainly a male thing, women have 
come to play a key role in the reconstruction efforts. The Gacaca nevertheless remains biased 
against women because of its inadequacy for fully addressing sexual crimes. Provisions have 
been made to allow women to testify on sexual crimes, for example, through in camera 
sessions. But the embedding of the Gacaca in a local faceto- face community makes it 
difficult to tackle these crimes. 
3.
The Gacaca proceedings are speeding up the backlog of genocide-related cases: 
The 
Gacaca trials are breaking all records in quantitative terms. They will not only effectively 
deal with the approximately 130,000 persons incarcerated after the genocide, but also handle 
the thousands more who were unexpectedly accused when the Gacaca courts started 
operating on the hills in the countryside. There will be mass justice for mass atrocity, in 
quantitative terms. There is less certainty about their performance in a qualitative sense. 
4.
The Gacaca court system is contradictory: 
Contradiction is ingrained in the Gacaca court 
system and the reconciliation process in Rwanda. The post-genocide political regime has 
adopted a discourse of reconciliation over the course of time but it does not want to give it 
the chance to succeed. It obstructs that which it facilitates at the same time. It has conceived 
and implemented the Gacaca court system in the name of unity and reconciliation, but the 
legal and social engineering within an ancient institution and the behavioral attributes-the 
practice of governing-of the post-genocide regime are the biggest stumblhg blocks to a 
genuine form of reconciliation. 
The domains in which these contradictions are manifest include the following. 
a.