Rwanda Government and Dealing with the Past Freddy Mutanguha Country Head, Aegis Trust Abstract The 1994 Genocide in Rwanda claimed the lives of over a million people. In trying to deal with the trauma caused by the Genocide, the Rwandan government, assisted by the international community, carried out a series of measures. At the international level, the UN Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), created by Security Council resolution S/RES/955 of 1994. The ICTR has, over the past eighteen years of its operations, indicted ninety-three people for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.1 At the national level, the National Consultation Forum opted for homegrown solutions, comprising community festivals, traditional schools, community mediators, the Gacaca court, community and national dialogues. In addition, Rwanda is working towards unity through diverse activities including memorialization. I am very pleased to be part of this important conference and have this opportunity to share with you Rwandan experience of how we managed to deal with our past, even if the journey is still long. Background and description of the conflict In Rwanda, as in many other places in the world, conflict has root causes and dynamics particular to it, which in turn determine the subsequent post-conflict character of the state, shape its reconstruction and the relevant peace-building strategy. Conflicts also have different effects in terms of the magnitude of destruction, but they all lead to a state of moral, social, economic and political degeneration. In extreme cases, conflict leads to a situation of a totally failed state. This was the glaring state of affairs in Rwanda after the 1994 Genocide. The country had been totally destroyed to a level where some people believed that Rwanda would never be a nation again. From the 1950s up to 1994, Rwanda came into international focus for a host 1  See the ICTR Website at <http://www.unictr.org>. International Conference on Transitional Justice, Zimbabwe 49