Tribunal Voices Public Launch

During the public launch of the project on January 27, 2009, at the University of Washington, the audience generated the list of questions below. In the near future, this page will provide a place for people to discuss these and other questions. In additon, we will be exploring other ways to promote conversation and sharing among those interested in this material.

Audience Questions from Public Launch

Do you really think these clips can be effective on their own?
Do you think your work has any practical role in preventing genocide? Or is it more a healing process after the fact? What has your experience taught you about keeping fragile situations from descending into mass violence?
The information is so interesting to a Westerner, but how do you present the topic to people who are scared and don't want to think or acknowledge it?
Does your project plan to return to Rwanda after the tribunals to document victims responses to the convictions?
Compare the tribunal process, focusing on retribution, with South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation's restorative process.
Do you think that the Truth and Reconciliation commission can serve as a model to obtain peace in Israel & Palestine?
How is the government dealing with the mental health crisis of the Rwandan population?
Who and where did the defendant's lawyers come from?
Would you classify the recent invasion of Gaza as a genocide? Should there be a tribunal?
How do you see this applying to immediate needs of justice like the crimes of Joseph Kony in Northern Uganda?
Balancing cultural considerations and admission of proper evidence - what particular evidence needs to be brought to show guilt of genocide?
Who is being held responsible? The individual rapists or those who were ordering the systematic rapes?
How much did attorneys/judges risk by joining the tribunal?
Shortcomings - How can improve the effectiveness of your project?
How can a tribunal affect genocide in the future?
How can it feel like justice is being done so that all victims and persons feel it, so that it won't happen again? How can information systems design influence this?
Do you think it is possible for retributive justice to play a healing role in reconciliation?
If you were going to do this work again, what would you do differently?
How do you anticipate distributing and presenting this material?
Have any other countries adopted this principle? That rape = genocide? i.e. maybe Iraq/ Are the convicted in Rwanda tribunals required to pay restitution?
It seems like part of reconciliation is healing the sense of historical conflict that leads up to atrocities. From your perspective, how has the ICTR and its work established the conditions to start the healing process necessary for reconciliation?
Did Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire (Retd) have any part in this project?
What, if anything are you doing to disseminate this project's findings and / or process to other similar programs, either in the US or elsewhere?
What is the population of Rwanda?
Do you feel that this tribunal will make an impact on the way other leaders will conduct affairs, will it deter further acts of genocide, will it make an impact on an issue such as the genocide in Darfur?
How does one reconcile the concept of reconciliation with the concept of "never forget"?
How were defense attorneys chosen, how many defendants did each attorney represent, and how much of the funds were provided to the defense?
What did you learn about the role of forgiveness in the process of establishing justice and reconciliation after genocide?
Can you draw any conclusions regarding the receptivity of the host nation to this tribunal process? What is the relationship between Tanzania and Rwanda?
We have heard of atrocities in Gaza by Israeli soldiers...what are the lessons for Israel and the UN in the example of the ongoing plight of Palestinians?
Is rape now being convicted as rape alone or because rapists are or were HIV+ ?
How are these clips being disseminated to the people in Rwanda? In cities as well as rural areas?