With more than a hundred thousand people awaiting trial, the conventional courts could not deliver justice within a lifetime. Rwanda adapted gacaca, a community dispute-resolution tradition, into a national transitional justice system.
Between 2002 and 2012, gacaca courts heard close to two million cases in front of the communities where the crimes occurred. Confession, testimony, and community sentencing including community service were central to the process.
Alongside gacaca, the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, ingando solidarity camps, and abunzi mediation committees worked to rebuild trust. The record is debated, but the scale of participation is unmatched in modern transitional justice.