A Critical Analysis of The Command Responsibility In Théoneste Bagosora’s Case At The ICTR- From Ethnic Polarisation to Systematic Violence
This paper examines the application of the doctrine of command responsibility in Théoneste Bagosora’s case at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), highlighting the transition from ethnic polarization to systematic violence. Bagosora, a key military figure, orchestrated and directed genocidal acts following intense ethnic divisions exacerbated by political manipulation.The paper contends that judicial outcomes following the Rwandan genocide could have been more just if they had more deeply engaged with Rwanda’s historical complexities. Instead, many tribunal proceedings focused narrowly on individual criminal acts, often without fully considering how decades of ethnic polarization, colonial legacies, and the manipulation of history had shaped both the motivations and actions of the accused. This limited approach risked obscuring the ways in which history was weaponised to justify and facilitate genocide, potentially oversimplifying individual culpability. A more context-sensitive evaluation would have acknowledged the broader forces at play, leading to fairer and more nuanced judgments
