INTRODUCTION

This chapter explores two themes - healing and forgiveness - that are rarely considered in the context of transitional societies. This neglect probably stems from the centrality for healing and forgiveness of psycho­logical, psychosocial and sometimes even spiritual issues - usually con­cerning individuals rather than societies as a whole - that most political and legal analysts consider irrelevant or at best secondary concerns after conflict.

Healing and forgiveness, more than any other themes explored in this book, underscore the importance of religious - particularly Christian - values and beliefs for popular interpretations of gacaca's objectives. The Rwandan population connects gacaca closely with notions of healing and forgiveness on the basis of Christian principles of mercy, grace, redemption and atonement. My findings concerning the importance of Christian theology for Rwandans' interpretations of gacaca echo Stephen Ellis's analysis of the importance of religious concepts of trans­formation for many Liberians recovering from their country's civil war. Ellis argues, �Christian teaching is particularly attractive to any ex-fighter who wishes to make a radical break with his or her past, perhaps because of the Christian belief that the Holy Spirit is universal in nature and can enter anybody to provide instant transformation.'^[584] This chapter argues that similar claims regarding the potential for redemption and atone­ment through a Christian faith inform much of the Rwandan popula­tion's pursuit of post-genocide healing and forgiveness.

This chapter contends that, given the inevitably long-term nature of pursuing healing and forgiveness, gacaca is limited in how feasibly it alone can pursue these objectives. Nevertheless, healing and forgiveness show more clearly than the other objectives considered in this book how the population moulds gacaca to meet its own needs, drawing heavily on local religious beliefs, in ways that extend far beyond the view of gacaca portrayed in its governing legal documents and pronouncements by state elites.