Today in the Mission Yearbook - Hard healing work in Rwanda, a promising country with deep enduring scars

As a Rwandan proverb laments, ‘Help from abroad always comes when the rain has stopped’

October 26, 2024

On April 7, 2024, Rwandan President Paul Kagame lit the

flame of this Eternal Flame Monument now installed at the

Kigali Genocide Memorial as a 30-year remembrance of the

genocide initiated that day in 1994. (Contributed photo)

The Republic of Rwanda, a small country in central Africa the size of Maryland, is commemorating the 30th year since the genocide tore the nation apart. In a 100-day period between April 7 and July 19, 1994, up to 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutu militias, and an estimated 500,000 Tutsi women were raped.

The term “genocide” was cemented into the global consciousness with the Rwandan massacre. Coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, “genocide” combines the Greek word genos (meaning race or tribe) with the Latin word cide (killing) to describe the systematic and deliberate extermination of a group, as seen during the Holocaust. The term became crucial in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Many governments and organizations initially downplayed the scale of the violence in 1994. By the time the genocide was widely acknowledged, most of the killing had already occurred. In hindsight, this is seen as a major moral and political failure, which has tested the social structure of that country.

In the 30 years since, the country has under President Paul Kagame  done surprisingly well. After a decade of recovery, the country entered a phase of high economic growth. For an extended period, it became one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, while reducing poverty and fertility rates. Today Rwanda is an inspiration for other poor and struggling countries and a modern-day example of the biblical truth that adversity and trials will develop perseverance, which leads to new constructive solutions.

Rwandan prisoners are shown attending a lecture on restorative 

justice principles. (Contributed photo)

However, the racial divide which initially led to the conflict has been a lingering background concern, and consequently much effort has been extended on healing, forgiveness and integration issues throughout the community and in the prison system to which the main perpetrators were incarcerated.

After the genocide, Rwanda faced an overwhelming challenge of how to deliver justice for the vast number of people involved in the genocide. The conventional justice system was crippled, with courts destroyed, and many judges, lawyers, and other judicial personnel either killed or implicated in the genocide.

A fascinating part of the solution was the reintroduction of the Gacaca courts, which were the ruling community-based justice system in Rwanda before colonial powers took over the country. This traditional court system was revived and adapted in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. The term “Gacaca” (pronounced ga-cha-cha) comes from the Rwandan word for “grass,” referring to the informal gatherings where community elders would traditionally resolve disputes while sitting on the grass.

Pius Nyakayiro, director of the Good News Rwanda organization, 

speaks to the female population of the Nyamagabe women’s prison. 

(Contributed photo)

The Gacaca courts tried over 1.2 million cases between 2001 and their official closure in 2012 and played a crucial role in dealing with the massive backlog of genocide-related cases the conventional justice system could not handle. However, the Gacaca courts were not without controversy. Critics pointed to several issues, including lack of legal expertise, intimidation, false testimony, and inadequate appeal process.

Despite these criticisms, many Rwandan and international observers view the Gacaca courts as a significant mechanism for achieving justice and promoting reconciliation in the aftermath of the genocide.

Today the 13 prisons now in operation in Rwanda hold more than 80,000 male and 5,000 female prisoners, many of whom are serving long sentences for their part in the systematic killings.

Over the years, the Rwandan government has improved prison facilities and made law revisions regarding prison overcrowding. Soon a halfway house will be operational so released prisoners gradually can prepare for home return and, in the meantime, can communicate with family members through phone conversations.

Nyakayiro and his staff at Good News Rwanda are hopeful that with all these efforts for the safe reintegration the prisoners will eventually be accomplished. However, he fervently appeals to the international prison outreach community and faith organizations for assistance. “We would like to introduce professional Restorative Justice concepts and proven programs like Adopt-A-Prison, Rehabilitation through the Arts, Unlocking Harmony, and others to help our imprisoned brothers and sister return home with peace,” Nyakayiro said.

May the world not be silent to the Rwanda call again.

The Rev. Dr. Hans Hallundbaek, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is a co-founder of both Rehabilitation through the Arts and the Interfaith Prison Partnership, an outreach of Hudson River Presbytery. He is an adjunct instructor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Marist College. He lives in Katonah, New York.

Today’s Focus: Hard healing work in Rwanda

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Joel Townsend, IT Help Desk Specialist, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 
Cuong Tran, Mail/Print Clerk, Mail/Print Center, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 

Let us pray

Creator God, guide us to recognize your love for all people. We rejoice that you have given us individuality while holding us all in your hand. Help us learn from each other and acknowledge the strength that is gained through diversity. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - A Presbyterian pastor finds hope and direction in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights

It’s a reminder to continue work on establishing ‘a world of peace and happiness for all’

February 20, 2024

Implementation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

in the global prison system was a major part on the agenda of the 

Pan Africa CURE Conference in Nairobi, Kenay in May 2023. (

Photo courtesy of Hans Hallundbaek)

“Nothing is constant but change,” says the philosopher, and we might as well add, “…changing ever faster.” Wherever we look today the world is changing and at an unprecedented rate.

Much of that change is alarming, but there is also some good news, such as for our prison system. In my home state of New York, the state prison population in the past 25 years has been reduced from 70,000 in the late 1990s to around 30,000 today.

However, still missing is a full understanding of prisoners’ human rights. It is therefore important to remind all of the recent celebration of the 75-year anniversary for the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This anniversary has created renewed interest in this declaration, which has been called “one of the most important documents ever written in human history.”

This interest bodes well for the general human rights movement in 2024, for the UDHR gives us powerful tools for positive change in just 30 moving articles — not only for the prison world but society at large. As a sample, Article 1 reads, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” These two powerful sentences should inspire us to check out not only the preamble, but also its remaining 29 articles.

For prison reformers and the 10 million people worldwide behind bars, the related 11-point U.N. document adopted Dec. 14, 1990, called “Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners,” is of vital importance. The document’s Point 1 reads: “All prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings.” These are powerful sentiments and are further elaborated in the subsequent 10 points, reminding us of our moral and spiritual obligations not only to our fellow human beings but also those who have breached the laws of human society. It calls upon us to develop a whole new perspective on imprisoned people, as fellow human beings who have made mistakes and need our understanding and help in rehabilitation.

The author raises the UN flag during his Pan Africa CURE, Nairobi 

conference presentation on the need for adoption of the Human 

Rights Declaration in our global prison systems. (Photo courtesy of 

Hans Hallundbaek)

By exercising the Human Rights Declaration’s command to recognize the “inherent dignity and value” of incarcerated individuals, we recognize their need for rehabilitative education and care. At the same time, and in the world of siblinghood, we individually have a role to play in filling that need for outreach and learning on an individual level the truth and rewards of Jesus’ command to love our neighbor.

To implement the UDHR onto the societal level requires an admission that our criminal justice system has carried a major flaw since its adoption from 12th century English Law. It rules that a criminal act is an offense against the state, and not the home community of the offender. In early societies, where every human being was needed for survival, the community had an inherent interest in the rehabilitation of any offender. However, this opportunity is lost once the offender is extradited into a distant, far away, bare, cold and largely punitive state facility.

A recent innovation to seek some solution to this problem is the Adopt-A-Prison concept, where the community surrounding its local prison develops various outreach programs including education, rehabilitation, re-entry and general welfare activities, all aiming at returning individuals to their community as a contributing member — and all in the spirit of the Matthew 25 Movement.

An African prison chaplain with a lifetime of experience in prison reform, prisoner rehabilitation and the forgiveness requirements recently minted this quote: “While it takes a community to save a prison, it takes a prison to save a community.”

If we accept the message of this quote, we implicitly suggest that prison reform along the lines of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the model for saving the world.

The Rev. Dr. Hans Hallundbaek, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is a co-founder of both Rehabilitation through the Arts and the Interfaith Prison Partnership, an outreach of Hudson River Presbytery. He is an adjunct instructor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Marist College. He lives in Katonah, New York.

Today’s Focus: United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Monica Buonincontri, Director, Enterprise Marketing, Board of Pensions
Cherrie Burch, Senior Accounting Clerk, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray

Gracious God, you call us to be Christ incarnate. We are to be the compassionate heart and hands of Christ. We are the loaves and the fishes that will give hope and life during these challenging times. Amen.