Justice on the Grass: Three Rwandan Journalists, Their Trial for War Crimes and a Nation's Quest for Redemption [Hardcover]

Dina Temple-Raston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005

In 1994, almost 1 million people were savagely slain in one of the most horrific massacres in history. The subsequent war crimes trial of three prominent Rwandan media executives who used a radio station and a newspaper to incite the killing made front-page news around the world. Not since Nuremberg have journalists been tried and found guilty of crimes against humanity. This incredible book is the story of a nation's search for accountability. From crime to trial to verdict, JUSTICE ON THE GRASS takes readers through a decade in the lives of people on both sides of the law, including the three journalists, along with everyday citizens such as an orphanage teacher wrongfully imprisoned for eight years for the murder of forty childen. From the killing fields to the prisons to the primitive courtrooms where tribal ritual dictates open-air justice, a Rwanda is revealed that few have ever seen. JUSTICE ON THE GRASS is a searing and compassionate book that illustrates how, over a decade later, a country and its people are still struggling to heal, to forgive and to make sense of something that defies credibility and humanity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Quickly tracing the history of Rwanda and the course of the 1994 genocide there, Temple-Raston (A Death in Texas) focuses on the Hutu Radio Télévision Libre de Mille Collines (RTLM), and the resulting trial of the men who ran it. The station was hate radio personified, urging the majority Hutus to kill the minority Tutsis, even naming people individually, as Temple-Raston vividly describes. She tracks the strong (but not slam-dunk) cases that were eventually brought against RTLM founders Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza and Ferdinand Nahimana, and against Hassan Ngeze, publisher of the Kangura newspaper, a hate-sheet. She captures some hauntinng scenes beyond the U.N.-run trials (which took place in Arusha, Tanzania), including chilling accounts of women who had been raped. Also, she tells the story of Damien Nzabakira, who was unjustly accused of killing orphans he tried to save and ultimately cleared of the charges without apologies or reparations for his lengthy prison stay. The book concludes gloomily despite the men's convictions; the new Rwandan constitution entrenched Tutsi power, the media contributed to a Kagame landslide and the Hutu majority, the author says, feels systematically disenfranchised. The title refers to gacaca, informal tribal courts aimed at low-cost postgenocide reconciliation. Photos not seen by PW. (Mar. 9)
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From Booklist

The old and colonialist-inspired animosities between the Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda were fanned into genocide in 1994 with the help of a radio station and a newspaper that prompted the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi. When brought to justice before a war-crimes trial reminiscent of the Nuremberg trials, three journalists were charged with crimes against humanity. Temple-Raston examines the social and political forces behind the horrific slaughter and the motivations of the journalists who urged ordinary citizens to pick up machetes and kill their neighbors. Recalling the long and troubled history of Rwanda, the author builds toward the tension of mass murders in killing fields and the war crimes in primitive courtrooms that attracted worldwide attention. Temple-Raston focuses on the journalists and their indirect victims--family members killed and maimed, and those torn apart by the conflict. She also examines the current state of Rwanda, a decade after the trial, and the forces that still foment violence and unrest in a nation that continues to grapple with notions of ethnicity and humanity. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743251105
• ISBN-13: 978-0743251105
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,433,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle, Frightening, and Wise, November 14, 2004

By 

Andrew Solomon "NoondayDemon" (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Justice on the Grass: Three Rwandan Journalists, Their Trial for War Crimes and a Nation's Quest for Redemption (Hardcover)

This is a highly nuanced book that deals with all the complexities of an impossible situation. The characters are almost Shakepearean, some of them good, some of them foolish, some of them manipulative, some of them darkly evil. The situation is extraordinary. Temple-Raston has a wonderful ear and is able to let people tell their own stories, and make their own judgments. This is elegant, brilliant journalism, written with great moral clarity but without ever moralizing.

5.0 out of 5 stars Hatemongers, January 14, 2011

By 

Stephen D. Bourgeois - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justice on the Grass: Three Rwandan Journalists, Their Trial for War Crimes and a Nation's Quest for Redemption (Hardcover)

This was an excellent book. The parallels between the actions of hatemongers in Uganda, and that of hatemongers in the U.S.A. is striking, even with the use of pejoratives to demonize certain groups. We now have 932 hate groups here, with talk-show hosts inflaming them 24/7. The goal of most of these hate groups is the violent overthrow of the government. Americans should read this book to get a glimpse of what may be in store for us, if the hatemongers continue their campaign.