OUVRAGE : J.C. Barrett, Child Perpetrators on Trial: Insights from Post-Genocide Rwanda

Jastine C. BARRETT

Following a devastating genocide in 1994, the Rwandan government elected to hold all perpetrators accountable - including children. Thousands of children were held in prisons while awaiting charges; some were later convicted. This book is about these children. Drawing on interviews and extensive archival research in Rwanda, it documents their journey through prisons, formal courts, gacaca proceedings or re-education centres. Its insights extend beyond Rwanda, looking at how international law protects children accused of even the most serious atrocities. The book is about law in action, and how states, and international organisations, operationalise international standards on child perpetrators in challenging post-conflict conditions. Engaging with theories from international law, international relations and anthropology, it illuminates strategies utilised by UNICEF to promote the rights of alleged child génocidaires and traces UNICEF's positive influence on their protection. It makes the case for principled pragmatism as an approach to human rights promotion in post-conflict societies.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
 
1. Introduction

1.1 Child Perpetrators of Genocide: Mapping the Underexplored
1.2 Approach, Assumptions and Methodology
1.3 Structure of the Book

2. International Standards on Child Perpetrators of Atrocities

2.1 The International Normative Framework Governing Child Of enders
2.2 International Law and Child Perpetrators of International Crimes
2.3 Juvenile Justice Standards on the Child Perpetrator of International Crimes
2.4 Conclusion

3. Putting International Standards into Practice

3.1 Legal Accommodations
3.2 Juvenile Justice – h e ‘Unwanted Child’ of Human Rights?
3.3 Mechanisms for the Promotion of Child Rights
3.4 Conclusion

4. Rwanda: Setting the Context

4.1 Civil War and Genocide
4.2 Post- Genocide Rwanda
4.3 The Position of the Child Of ender under Rwandan Law
4.4 Conclusion

5. Rwanda’s Responses, in Law, Policy and Practice, to Child Génocidaires

5.1 Arrests and Detentions
5.2 The Criminal Justice Response
5.3 Administrative Measures
5.4 Conclusion

6 International Actors and the Rwandan Child Génocidaire

6.1 International Actors and the Rwandan Child Génocidaire
6.2 UNICEF’s Involvement with Child Génocidaires
6.3 Conclusion

7. UNICEF Rwanda’s Policy and Advocacy: A Strategic Approach

7.1 Capacity Building
7.2 Sensitising the Community
7.3 Making Use of the Existing Legal Framework
7.4 The Use of Legal and Non- Legal Discourse
7.5 Capitalising on Political Will and Developing Relationships
7.6 Offering Incentives but Making Compromises
7.7 Conclusion

8. Evaluating UNICEF Rwanda’s Approach: A Case of Principled Pragmatism?

8.1 Criticisms, Risks and Limitations
8.2 Perceived Results
8.3 Factors Inl uencing the Approach
8.4 Conclusion

9. Child Perpetrators and Child Rights: Rwanda and Beyond

9.1 Key Findings and h eoretical Insights
9.2 Implications and Further Questions

Annex 1: List of Archives / Institutions Consulted
Annex 2: Sentencing under the Genocide Law 1996
Annex 3: Sentencing under the Gacaca Laws
Bibliography
Judicial Proceedings
Treaties and Other International Instruments
Rwandan Legislation
Literature and Documents from International Organisations
Index

Jastine C. BARRETT, Child Perpetrators on Trial: Insights from Post-Genocide Rwanda, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2019 (366 pp.)

Jastine C. Barrett is a UK-qualified lawyer and independent human rights consultant. She is currently an Honorary Researcher at Kent Law School, the University of Kent. Barrett completed her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, and also holds an LL.M. in International Law and International Relations and a B.A. (Hons) in Languages. She has served as Editor and Managing Editor for the Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law and on the management committee of the 'UK's Solicitors'.