Beneficiaries are actors too.pdf - Southern Institute of Peace ...

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Community-driven conflict resolution:
The abunzi mediators in Rwanda
Dr. Martha Mutisi, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution
of Disputes (ACCORD), South Africa.
Abstract
This paper examines a Rwandan traditional dispute resolution
and justice systems known as abunzi, paying special attention to
its role in community-driven peace-building. The abunzi or local
level mediation is part of the Rwandan justice and conflict
resolution system, engrained in the rubric of restorative justice
as it helps Rwandan people to address their conflicts without
resorting to litigation and other retributive approaches. The
paper highlights in detail how the reincarnation of the abunzi
following the genocide in Rwanda has helped the state to
decentralize justice and empower local community with the
capacity to resolve their disputes without the challenges
associated with modern justice systems. In addition, the paper
demonstrates that the abunzi system, by bringing together
community members in a forum of dialogue and resolution, has
become part of the repertoire of social healing processes and
rituals in Rwanda. Despite these benefits, the paper is wary of
too much state oversight in the abunzi processes, and cautions of
the possibility of abunzi becoming just another state-mandated
mediation whose ultimate result could be a dramaturgical
representation of reconciliation and community building. For
true community ownership of justice, the paper advocates
diminished state interference in the affairs and processes of the
abunzi.
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