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The Potential for Implementing Transitional Justice in Yemen: A Comparison with the Rwandan Experience




AuthorsDashela, Adel

PublisherSAM Organization for Rights

Publication year2025

First page 1

Last page52

Web address https://samrl.org/l.php?l=e/10/A/c/1/100/102/5654

Additional informationPublished online with open access. Focuses on Rwanda’s transitional justice and its potential lessons for Yemen.


Abstract

This study examines the Rwandan experience in transitional justice and explores the
potential for applying its lessons within the Yemeni context. Following the 1994
genocide, Rwanda succeeded in implementing a localized model of transitional justice
that combined international and national courts with the traditional Gacaca
community tribunals, alongside semi-integrated programs for reparations, national
memory building, and institutional reform. Despite the profound differences between
the Rwandan and Yemeni contexts, the study reveals genuine opportunities for Yemen
to benefit from this experience, particularly in activating tribal customary norms as
supportive mechanisms for transitional justice, designing local Yemeni programs for
both material and moral reparations, and constructing a comprehensive national
memory. The study concludes that the success of transitional justice in post-war
Yemen depends on ending the war, reaching a political agreement that embeds
transitional justice as a core pillar of the transitional process, unifying state
institutions, and cultivating a shared political will to achieve an inclusive, consensual
justice that addresses the legacy of the past and prevents the recurrence of conflict.


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Funding information in the publication
Yemen, Transitional Justice, Rwandan Experience,


Last updated on 10/01/2026 02:42:30 PM