Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
The Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi produced statewide instability which the insurgent RPF sought to mitigate once in power. As part of their transitional justice initiatives, the RPF frequently utilized unique forms of corporeal memorialization, including the frequently shocking preservation and presentation of posthumous bodies to visitors at memorial sites. As a former visitor to such memorial sites as part of a field study, the author sought to understand why this form of necropolitics is, nonetheless, an integral aspect of the Rwandan transitional justice project. Through conducting a literature review, this paper discerned that corporeal memorialization is essential to transitional justice in Rwanda in three respects: for its ability to deter future violence through truth-telling; ensure acknowledgement of the crime of genocide through its educative effect; and, catalyze healing by providing an opportunity for remembrance. The paper also clarifies the limits of corporeal memorialization, particularly the necessity for corpses to be unidentifiable to avoid retraumatizing survivors and upsetting victims’ families. Although it is a flawed process, corporeal memorialization has still been indispensable to the recovery of the Rwandan state and peoples. This research is important for its ability to renounce widespread Western critiques of the Rwandan transitional justice project and better understand the wide scope of measures available to states engaging in processes of post-conflict reconstruction.