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'No women were involved in the killings ... They were mad people; no women were involved. All women were in their homes.' Female genocide suspect, Miyove prison 1
'I believe that women are just as guilty of this genocide as men.' Female genocide suspect, Kigali Central Prison 2
Women's participation in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has been brought to light by several high profile trials of Rwandan women in international jurisdictions, notably before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Almost 2000 women remain in Rwandan prisons, convicted of genocide-related offences.3 Ranging from illiterate farmers to former political, religious and military leaders, judges, journalists and teachers, their stories attest to the fact that women were not only victims of atrocities, but also committed them. While representing a relatively low proportion of genocide-related detainees compared with men (less than 6%),4 it is impossible to understand women's diverse experiences of the genocide without exploring their participation in the violence.
This article takes a small step in this direction. Based primarily on research conducted in Rwanda in 2001, including interviews with 71 detained female genocide suspects, it considers four central questions. First, what was the extent and nature of women's participation in the genocide? Second, if the forms of women's participation differed from men's, what are the legal consequences of this distinction? Third, what may have motivated 'ordinary' women to participate in the violence? Fourth, what roles did women in leadership positions play during the genocide, and how much actual power did they wield? A fifth question permeates the text: how did gender influence women's participation in the genocide, as well as their subsequent encounters with the law?
This article notes that women participated in the genocide in a variety of ways but were rarely directly engaged in the killings. It contends that where women conformed to gender expectations and participated 'indirectly' in the genocide (in particular, by denouncing Tutsis to the killers), less moral blame is attributed to them, both by the women themselves and by those responsible for bringing them to justice. One possible effect is the differential treatment of women in the Rwandan courts,5 despite the formal requirements in Rwandan law. On the other hand, where...