Restorative justice is about healing victims' wounds, returning offenders to a law-abiding life, and repairing damage done to interpersonal relationships and the community. It seeks to involve all stakeholders and provide opportunities for those most affected by the crime to be directly involved in the process of responding to the harm caused.” The government of Rwanda has suffered a tremendous act of violence with the loss of its two main ethnic groups, namely the Hutu and the Tutsi. Large-scale mass murder has caused millions of orphans and untold agony in a country that has yet to be restored and healed. After these tragic events of rape, torture and beheading of innocent people, the widespread horror is still etched in the memories of the survivors. For an individual to take another person's life is one scenario and to rape and kill a person while the family watches is another. Imagine the place and anguish given by the victim who struggles or strives to maintain his life with all his being, while the oppressor ignores his cries to resolve the situation. That person is not in the right state of mind and probably does not know the purpose or consequences of his action. In 1994 the world witnessed one of the most systematic and widespread massacres of our time in Rwanda. By the end of the massacre, one million people died and hundreds were left with physical and psychological scars. The genocide was fueled by years of hatred between Hutu and Tutsi. After the genocide, the Rwandan government was left with the task of designing a justice system capable of prosecuting those responsible for the genocide and restoring peace in the country. Due to the lack of a competent judicial system...... half of the document ......essay/restorative - justice >Commission for National Unity and Reconciliation (2010). Barometer of reconciliation in Rwanda. Retrieved January 2, 2012, from http://www.nurc.gov.rw/fileadmin/templates/Documents//RWANDA_RECONCILIATION_BAROMETER.pdf National Commission for Unity and Reconciliation (2012). Reconciliation tools. Retrieved February 5, 2012, from http://www.nurc.gov.rw/reconciliation-tools/itorero.htmlKubai, A. (2007). Between justice and reconciliation: the survivors of Rwanda. AfricanSecurity Review, 16(1), 53-66. Richters, A., Dekker, C. de Jonge, k, & Ullrich, J. (2008). The role of acceptance and empowerment in promoting reconciliation from the perspective of the needs-based modality. Social Issues and Policy Reviews, 2(1), 159,186 Saccaggi, B. Grassroots justice: Rwanda's gacaca courts and local concepts of reconciliation. www.consultancyafrica.com .