From Memory to Hope: Survivors in Rwanda Inspire a New Path for Justice in South Sudan

On a quiet morning in Kigali, visitors entering the Kigali Genocide Memorial are met with rows of photographs, faces frozen in time, stories interrupted by violence. Beneath the calm gardens lie the remains of more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. 

The Rwanda’s survivors did not simply endure. They organized, advocated, and reshaped the country’s path toward justice and reconciliation. 

It was here, in this city shaped by remembrance and renewal, that a delegation from Legal Action Worldwide (LAW)e began a series of engagements with Rwandan institutions and survivor organizations. Their mission was both simple and profound: to explore how Rwanda’s experience with genocide, survivor support, and transitional justice could inform a survivor exchange program between Rwanda and South Sudan. 

For communities in South Sudan, still grappling with the scars of conflict and violence, Rwanda’s story offers both reflection and possibility. And this led to question: What would it be, placing survivors – not the institution as the lead at the Center for Search for Justice? 

Justice a dream seems too far 

South Sudan’s peace agreement provides for the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms, including a Hybrid Court, a Truth Commission, and a Reparations Authority. On paper, these institutions promise accountability. They remain largely unimplemented. 

For survivors of sexual violence, this delay is not procedural – it is personal. Justice postponed becomes justice denied. Each year without accountability deepens trauma, reinforces stigma, and signals that such crimes can be committed without consequence. 

At the same time, many survivors face immense barriers: weak legal systems, limited access to services, and social environments that often silence rather than support them.

Listening to survivor’s tales 

One of the first conversations took place with Ibuka, the national umbrella organization representing survivors of the genocide. 

Formed in 1995, Ibuka, whose name means “remember”, has spent decades ensuring that survivors remain at the center of Rwanda’s healing process. Through advocacy, survivor support programs, and memorialization initiatives, the organization has helped ensure that the voices of survivors guide conversations about justice, remembrance, and reconciliation. 

During the discussions, the LAW delegation listened as partners shared lessons from nearly three decades of survivor-led advocacy: how communities rebuilt trust, how justice processes unfolded, and how remembrance became a foundation for national healing. As an organisation whose work focuses on accountability for international crimes, strategic litigation, and survivor-centered justice, these insights were deeply relevant. 

A key part of Rwanda’s justice journey involved the Gacaca Courts, a community-based justice system that tried thousands of genocide-related cases. While not without challenges, the ‘Gacaca’ process enabled communities to confront truth, acknowledge wrongdoing, and begin rebuilding relationships. 

For countries emerging from conflict, such locally grounded approaches offer important lessons about balancing justice, truth-telling, and reconciliation. 

Preserving Memory, preventing atrocity through documentation

The delegation also met with Aegis Trust, an international organization dedicated to preventing genocide through education, research, and advocacy. At the heart of Aegis’s work is the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which serves not only as a burial site and memorial but also as a global center for learning and dialogue about mass atrocities. 

Through its education programs, Aegis Trust brings together students, policymakers, survivors, and communities to confront the causes of genocide and to promote shared responsibility for peace. Aegis’s work highlighted the powerful role of documentation, memorialization, and public education in preventing future atrocities. 

LAW delegation meets with Aegis Trust

Memorial spaces do more than preserve history. They challenge societies to confront difficult truths, honor survivors, and ensure that the lessons of the past guide future generations. 

Healing and reconciliation after violence 

Another important engagement took place with AVEGA Agahozo, a women-led organization founded by widows of the genocide. 

In January 1995, just months after the violence ended, 50 widowed survivors gathered in Kigali to support one another. Their shared grief became the foundation for what would grow into a nationwide network supporting tens of thousands of widows and their families. 

Today, AVEGA’s programs extend far beyond survivor support. The organization provides healthcare services, mental health and trauma counseling, socioeconomic empowerment programs, and educational support for orphans and vulnerable children. 

Particularly striking was AVEGA’s work supporting women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, including those who continue to live with the physical, psychological, and social consequences of the atrocities committed during the genocide. 

Their programs focus on restoring dignity, supporting mental health recovery, and empowering survivors to rebuild their lives. 

For the LAW delegation whose work includes legal representation for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and advocacy for justice and accountability, the discussions offered powerful insights into survivor-centered approaches to healing and resilience. 

Building Bridges Between Survivors 

The proposed survivor exchange program aims to create a platform where survivors from South Sudan can meet and learn directly from Rwandan survivors who have walked the long road from trauma to healing. 

Through dialogue and shared reflection, the program seeks to foster peer learning among survivors, discussions on justice and accountability mechanisms, exchanges on trauma healing and psychosocial support, as well as inspiration for survivor-led advocacy and community reconciliation. 

For survivors in South Sudan, hearing directly from those who endured the genocide in Rwanda in the planned survivor exchange program will offer powerful perspectives on resilience and the possibilities of justice. 

The road ahead 

The survivor exchange program will explore opportunities for survivors from South Sudan to visit Rwanda, meet survivor organizations, engage with memorial institutions, and learn from Rwanda’s experience in navigating justice, truth, and reconciliation. 

While every country’s path to healing is unique, Rwanda’s journey offers a reminder that even after unimaginable violence, societies can rebuild. In Kigali, the gardens of the Genocide Memorial remain quiet and reflective. Visitors pause before the names etched in stone, remembering lives lost and lessons learned. 

But beyond remembrance lies something equally powerful: the determination of survivors who chose not only to remember, but also to rebuild, to seek justice, and to create a future defined not by hatred, but by hope and where accountability is the glue that ties commitment to the result.