After gaining full independence from Belgium in 1962, Rwanda became a one-party state dominated by political leaders from the Hutu ethnic group. This remained the case even when multiple parties were later allowed to participate in Rwandan politics. Disenfranchised, mainly Tutsi refugees living in Uganda formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which invaded Rwanda in 1990. This resulted in a three-year civil war between the RPF and the government.

In January 1993, a coalition of Rwandan and international human rights organisations established the International Commission of Investigation on Human Rights Violations in Rwanda since 1 October 1990 to look into human rights violations committed between October 1990 and January 1993. The commission documented 2,000 killings and an unspecified number of attacks on civilians, including kidnapping. (Read more about the commission.)

The Rwandan genocide, which began in April 1994 and led to the deaths of an estimated 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi, within 100 days, received global attention and resulted in the implementation of several transitional justice mechanisms, including an international tribunal, an international inquiry, a truth commission and a traditional justice mechanism.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was established by the United Nations Security Council in November 1994 to prosecute those most responsible for organising and executing the genocide and serious violations of international humanitarian law in Rwanda and neighbouring countries between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994. (Read more about the tribunal.)

In 1998, the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union) established the International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and the Surrounding Events, which was mandated to determine how the genocide was planned and executed and to “determine culpability for the failure to enforce the [1948] Genocide Convention in Rwanda and in the Great Lakes region.” (Read more about the panel.)

In 1999, the government of Rwanda established a National Unity and Reconciliation Commission with a broad mandate to promote reconciliation in the country. The commission has since become a permanent institution that focuses on civic education, conflict mediation and community-based reconciliation initiatives. (Read more about the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission.)

In March 2001, the government established the Gacaca courts, a modernised form of traditional justice, in order to speed up the trials of hundreds of thousands of genocide suspects. The jurisdiction of the Gacaca courts was limited to crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed between 1 October 1990 and 31 December 1994. Those who bear the greatest responsibility for the genocide were tried either by the ICTR or by the national courts. (Read more about gacaca courts.)