The Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE) released a list of 68 doctors and 89 nurses who killed patients during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
This was revealed by Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana, Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement during a commemoration event by health personnel at Gisozi Genocide Memorial while paying tribute to the memory of the health personnel killed during the Genocide.
“Instead of saving lives, these criminal doctors killed their patients, colleagues and nurses. The biggest number of these murderers were recorded in the former prefecture of Butare, in the current Southern Province. The former President during the Genocide, Dr Théodore Sindikubwabo took the lead in pushing his medical colleagues to exterminate the Tutsis,” the Minister said.
Dr Sindikubwabo was himself a pediatrician at Butare hospital before becoming Head of State during the Genocide.
The minister recalled that on the basis of identity cards carrying ethnic identification at the time, lists of Tutsis targeted to be killed had been drawn up.
Some healthcare workers withdrew the healthcare from patients to hasten their death. Some doctors who incited the population to kill Tutsis included: the ex-governor of Kibuye, Clément Kayisheme; and the former governor of Gisenyi, Charles Zirimwabagabo. These two were tried and sentenced by the ICTR in Arusha.
Minister Bizimana said that ex-President Dr Sindikubwabo went to Cyahinda in Butare prefecture to thank the people who killed the Tutsis.
“I come here to thank you for doing your job, and I urge you to continue it. And I will reward you for it, ” he said, inciting the masses.
On the list of doctors who played a role in the Genocide are Dr Eugène Rwamucyo who is in France, Dr Nshimyumuremyi who is in Gabon, and the brother of former President Juvénal Habyarimana, Dr Séraphin Bararengana.
Some doctors collaborated with their wives to kill Tutsis, a nurse named Thérèse Nyiramisago, sister of Théodore Sindikubwabo, played an active role in the extermination of Tutsis. Such violence attests to the hatred against Tutsis taught from primary and secondary school to university.
While marking the 29th anniversary of the Genocide against the Tutsi by health personnel, testimonies of survivors were heard, RPF fighters were thanked for stopping the Genocide and rebuilding a country focused on social and economic reconstruction.
The Minister of Health, Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, said that 80% of health personnel who worked in the sector suffered from the Genocide. He urged the current health personnel to give life and good services to the patients who come to them, always avoiding what can make us return to the throes of the past.