The issue of amnesty is incredibly difficult. And I think you are right in that the dynamic created in the ‘trade-off’ between truth and amnesty can compromise the outcome. I know very little about the ‘gacaca’ process, and wasn’t aware that amnesty was being offered in exchange for full accounts.

A book that I’ve found helpful in understanding the Rwandan genocide is called When Victims become Killers by Mahmood Mamdani. It deals more specifically with the conditions that led to the genocide and doesn’t go too far into the reconciliation process but it does discuss briefly the concept of ‘survivor justice’ which I think is a productive way to think about a way to move forward in a post-genocide society. Perhaps I’ll post more about ‘survivor justice’ in the next couple of weeks. I don’t think I’d do the concept justice without revisiting it first.