By Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye
Some perpetrators of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda—in the quiet stillness of their own minds— are haunted by the sounds of voices—voices of the lives they extinguished, the innocence they stole, the futures they shattered. Their all-consuming remorse doesn’t constitute a fleeting sorrow— but an unrelenting burden that stains their very existence, a reminder of the irreversible damage wrought by their hands. Milan Babić, a former leader of the Serb forces, encapsulates this anguish “The regret that I feel is the pain that I have to live for the rest of my life.” For him and others who have engaged in such unspeakable acts and have not sincerely sought forgiveness or shown true repentance, redemption may seem out of reach, and the atrocities cannot be undone. What remains is a painful echo of guilt, a lifetime spent in the shadow of irreversible consequences.
Nevertheless, there is perhaps hope amid the darkness: as highlighted by the case of Elie Musabyimana—a genocide convict and Emmanuel Muhire—a genocide survivor, true remorse, a heartfelt plea for pardon, and the grace of forgiveness offers the possibility of healing—albeit never erasing the scars. This is not just the story of those who perpetrated the genocide—it forms a stark warning to those who may think that they can commit such heinous acts. The path they walk is one of devastation—not just for the innocent victims, but also for themselves, as their own humanity is forever scarred.
The only way forward is through genuine contrition, a process that can ease the weight of guilt, though the consequences of their actions can never be fully undone. The perpetrators’ crushing remorse should act as a dissuading example for others, wherever they may be in the world. In other words, people should work to prevent such tragedies by avoiding engaging in or encouraging such acts. This article is subdivided into these sections:
- Case of some perpetrators of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
- Milan Babić
- Conclusion
- Call-to-action
Case of some perpetrators of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Duteze Imbere Ubutabera—Let’s Promote Justice—is a large project implemented from 2018 to 2020 in Rwanda by various implementing organizations including Fondation DiDé [Dignité En Détention/Dignity In Detention]/Rwanda. The project was financed by USAID- United States Agency for International Development.
As part of this project, DiDé carried out an 18-month project dubbed “Rehabilitative Justice for Reconciliation in Rwanda” in prisons of Nyamasheke, Nyamagabe, Nyaruguru, Huye, Nyamasheke and Rusizi Districts—Rwanda’s South and West respectively.
DiDé developed IEC (Information, Education and Communication) material. In the process of formulating the material, DiDé consulted various relevant organizations. Some of these organizations provided DiDé with information indicating the devastating consequences of the Genocide against the Tutsi on certain perpetrators.
Association Modeste et Innocent (AMI) told DiDé “Prisons hold several desperate people [genocide convicts] including those rejected by their families. For instance in Karubanda prison alone are 280 people who have refused to eat; they are forced to eat. Releasing such a person in the community, without proper preparation for their reintegration, could cause them to perpetrate a monumental crime.”
Echoing AMI, through the Priest Diogène Dufatanye— Rusizi Prison’s Chaplain—Commission Justice et Paix du Diocèse Cyangugu [Justice and Peace Commission of Cyangugu Diocese] shared with DiDé “Even the prisoners themselves recount it. Especially during the week of unity and reconciliation, they say ‘We wish to meet with families against which we committed crimes. You find they have been traumatized, they experience dreams taking them back to 1994.
They long to be healed. Repeating what they dream, they request ‘Please, seek how you can help me.’ Since they are very numerous, it has induced me to think of cooperation with the Justice and Peace Commission for an intervention to assist those prisoners.”
Besides those who experience dreams, there are also individuals in other parts of the country who hear the voices of those they killed during the genocide. These voices are described as haunting, with the perpetrators hearing them as if they were speaking directly to them, demanding justice or expressing their suffering. This phenomenon is not confined to the prisons or districts mentioned earlier, but extends to different regions where the trauma of the indescribably bad past is continuing to reverberate. It highlights the deep psychological scars carried by some—if not many, or even almost all—of the perpetrators, as they struggle with guilt, remorse, and the unresolved weight of their actions. With the phrases “many or almost all”, we intend to emphasize that nearly everyone involved in such heinous atrocities bears this overwhelming guilt and remorse, though the challenge is that they often do not outwardly express it.
For those who carry this burden, the path to relief often comes through the opportunity to request pardon from the bottom of their hearts—a space facilitated by organizations like DiDé. These organizations provide a platform where individuals can confront their inhuman actions and express their remorse in a way that offers them a measure of psychological release. However, we have chosen not to dwell on this aspect here, as our intent has been to illustrate the crushing consequences of engaging in heinous acts.
Milan Babić
According to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yougoslavia (ICTY), Babić once expressed his enduring agony, along with heartfelt and profound regret, over actions which he had perpetrated. He said “I’m speechless.”
According to ICTY, Babić was former Prime Minister/President of the government of the self-declared Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina, Croatia, later the so-called Republic of Serbian Krajina in 1991-1992. ICTY adds “Babić participated in a campaign of persecutions against non-Serbs. He was aware that crimes such as mistreatment in prisons, deportations, forcible transfer and the destruction of property were being committed, and he knew that civilians were being killed in the course of the forcible removal.
He participated and supported the military take over of territories, encouraging and assisting in the acquisition of arms. He made ethnically inflammatory speeches at public events and in the media and such propaganda helped the unleashing of violence against the Croat population and other non-Serbs. Before he was indicted, he testified for the Prosecution in the Milošević case. Babić was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment.”
As reported by ICTY, he issued the guilty plea statement on 27 January 2004. The following is its extract from the transcript of hearing which lies on ICTY’s website. “Thank you, Your Honour. I come before this Tribunal with a deep sense of shame and remorse. I have allowed myself to take part in the worst kind of persecution of people simply because they were Croats and not Serbs. Innocent people were persecuted; innocent people were evicted forcibly from their houses; and innocent people were killed. Even I learned what had happened, I kept silent. Even worse, I continued in my office, and I became personally responsible for the inhumane treatment of innocent people.
The regret that I feel is the pain that I have to live for the rest of my life. These crimes and my participation therein can never be justified. I’m speechless when I have to express the depth of my remorse for what I have done and for the effect that my sins have had on the others. I can only hope that by expressing the truth, by admitting to my guilt, and expressing the remorse can serve as an example to those who still mistakenly believe that such inhumane acts can ever be justified. Only truth can give the opportunity for the Serbian people to relieve itself of its collective burden of guilt. Only an admission of guilt on my part makes it possible for me to take responsibility for all the wrongs that I have done.”
On one hand, it is unfortunate that Babić came to learn universally essential virtues like compassion, belongingness to the human race, unity, and forgiveness only after committing the atrocities which brought profound suffering to others. Yet, on the other hand, his eventual recognition of these virtues is crucial too, offering a powerful lesson for others. “I hope that the remorse that I expressed will make it easier for the others to bear their pain and suffering. I have come to understand that enmity and division can never make it easier for us to live. I have come to understand that our — the fact that we all belong to the same human race is more important than any differences, and I have come to understand that only through friendship and confidence we can live together in peace and friendship, and thus make it possible for our children to live in a better world.
I have asked help from God to make it easier for me to repent, and I am thankful to God for making it possible for me to express my repentance. I ask from my brothers, Croats, to forgive us, their brother Serbs, and I pray for the Serb people to turn to the future and to achieve the kind of compassion that will make it possible to forgive the crimes. And lastly, I place myself at the full disposal of this Tribunal and international justice.”
Wikipedia says that after he was sentenced in 2004, Babić was found dead in his prison cell in The Hague in March 2006, in an apparent suicide. The suicide is confirmed by the United Nations/International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals saying “Relying on Wigmore’s Evidence in Trials at Common Law, the Appellant concludes that because Milan Babić’s death, which resulted in the prevention or curtailment of the cross-examination of his evidence, was caused by ‘the voluntary act of the witness himself’, namely his suicide, the examination-in-chief must be struck out.
The Appeals Chamber concludes that the International Tribunal need not adopt this approach and finds that, despite Milan Babić’s death having been ruled a suicide, it remained within the Trial Chamber’s discretion to retain the evidence of Milan Babić on the basis that the interruption of his cross-examination, the majority of which had been completed, was unforeseeable and unavoidable.”
Conclusion
Babić’s suicide, following his recognition of the devastating consequences of his actions, indeed holds a profound weight, especially considering that his death appears to have stemmed from the unbearable guilt tied to his atrocities. His suicide, which occurred shortly after his sentencing, seems to underscore the overwhelming burden of guilt and remorse he grappled with. His death, in many ways, marks the tragic culmination of his profound internal conflict—a man who had come to understand the deep importance of these values, yet was unable to escape the weight of his past actions. This further serves as a somber reminder of the psychological toll that engaging in such atrocities begets, underlining the critical importance of addressing humanity and compassion before irreparable harm is done.
As we reflect on the words and actions of Babić, we are reminded of the immense human capacity for both cruelty and remorse. His story—one of participation in heinous crimes, followed by a profound recognition of his guilt and a desperate plea for forgiveness—represents a sobering testament to the unrelenting burden of responsibility borne by perpetrators of violence. His crushing remorse, which he carried and potentially ended his life, and the experiences of some of the genocide perpetrators in Rwanda encapsulate the tragic reality— some wrongs can never be fully righted, and some wounds can never be completely healed, especially when the victims don’t intervene in the healing.
Yet as already suggested, within this darkness lies a certain extent of hope. For those who genuinely confront their actions, acknowledging the pain they have caused and seeking redemption, there is the possibility toward their healing. Through initiatives like “Duteze Imbere Ubutabera” and the tireless work of organizations like DiDé, there is a collective effort to ensure that even the most broken can find a path to reconciliation and healing.
The journey of remorse, as we have seen through Babić’s testimony, is as much about self-awareness as it is about contributing to the collective healing of a society scarred by violence. It is a journey that may never be fully completed, but it is one that must be taken if we are to ensure that the ghosts of the past do not continue to haunt future generations.
Ultimately, Babić’s remorse, coupled with the ongoing work in Rwanda and elsewhere, highlights a universal truth: while the scars of genocide and violence may never fade, the pursuit of justice, truth, and reconciliation offers the only chance for a future where healing can begin—not just for the victims, but for the perpetrators as well. In this extremely difficult yet essential journey toward redemption, the healing of nations, communities, and individuals lies not in the erasure of the past, but in honest reckoning with it, and in the collective commitment to build a more compassionate and just world for all.
Call-to-action
Babić’s haunting words of regret and his tragic end as well as the genocide perpetrators’ experience serve as an undeniable call to action for us all. His journey from the depths of violence to the stark recognition of his guilt is not just a story of one man, but a mirror reflecting the collective struggle for justice, healing, and redemption.
The unflinching path to reconciliation lies not in forgetting or erasing the scars, but in confronting the truths—no matter how painful they may be. The remorse that Babić expressed is a stark reminder of the irreversible consequences of inhumanity. Yet, it also serves as a beacon of possibility: that through genuine contrition, through organizations like DiDé, through the painstaking efforts of projects that focus on rehabilitative justice, we can begin to rebuild what has been shattered.
These experiences dictate a moral imperative for all humanity to avoid repeating the horrors of the past. We must work together to prevent future cruelties, fostering a world where empathy, understanding, and justice replace division and hatred. It is not enough to reflect on the past—we must act, stand for compassion, and ensure that no more lives are scarred by the atrocities of war and conflict.