By any objective measure, the regime created in 1994 on the ashes of genocide has made considerable progress. Rwanda has gone from a legal framework that essentially institutionalized massacres as a method of political control, the amnesty laws, to an independent republic in which the rule of law and democratic institutions are central to the national political agenda. This article describes the amnesty law and its role in creating a culture of impunity that led to genocide. It explains how the Gacaca courts arose in the face of massive criminal caseloads and describes the legal changes that reformed the judiciary and paved the way for constitutional guarantees of legal rights. Table, notes, and references