Kigali: A mass funeral for remains of 84439 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was today 4th May 2019 held at Nyanza Memorial in Kicukiro District.
The remains of the victims were recovered over a period spanning one year from scores of mass graves and underneath houses in Kabuga-Gahoromani, a densely populated neighbourhood on the outskirts of the City of Kigali.
Over 100 mass graves were discovered in Masaka Sector Kicukiro District, and another 42 were in neighbouring Rusororo Sector in Gasabo District.
Most of the victims are thought to have been killed at a notorious roadblock along the Kigali-Rwamagana road manned by Interahamwe militia, which intercepted the Tutsi who were running for their dear life. Others were recovered from different parts of the city of Kigali.
“Kabuga was a crossing point for many Tutsi who were fleeing killings from other parts of Kigali heading to the east of the country,” said Jeannette Sumwiza a genocide survivor in Kabuga who also recounted the savage used b genocide perpetrators in Kabuga when giving her testimony during the funeral ceremony at Nyanza genocide memorial site.
Some of the victims were also killed at the roadblock as they attempted to flee to Kigali from nearby places like Muyumbu and Nyagasambu while a big number of the Tutsi of Kabuga was killed at a place that had been nicknamed CND to ironically refer to the then parliamentary building where RPF politicians and some 600 troops had been living pending implementation of the Arusha peace agreement.
She said that some notorious genocide perpetrators in Kabuga are still free and were not held accountable of their deed. She hence appealed for officials to apprehend them so they are arraigned to courts to ensure justice for both Kabuga genocide victims and survivors.
While many Genocide victims remain unaccounted for and efforts to ascertain the whereabouts of their remains continue in earnest across the country, the sheer number of the exhumed victims in the heart of a residential area like Kabuga-Gahoromani shocked many.
Information that led to the exhumation of the remains in the area came last year from a drunken Genocide perpetrator, who was aged 19 when he took part in the killings a quarter a century ago.
“Initially the tip-off was about one mass grave, then it led to another and then another one, until we discovered so many of such mass graves across the neighborhood,” said professor Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, president of IBUKA who added that some locals had even knowingly constructed houses atop of mass graves, while others had secretly relocated some remains to remove traces.
In his lecture, Dr Jean-Damascène Bizimana, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) recalled facts that illustrating that the genocide against the Tutsi had been plan for years. He also recalled that the International Community had been informed of the genocidal plot in Rwanda, but took no action to stop it.
Some of the remains were retrieved from within foundations of houses constructed after the Genocide. Some cases successive homeowners sold the properties on learning about the remains underneath but did not pass on the information to authorities.
Most of the mass graves that were found in the area were dug as early as 1992, way before the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Johnson Busingye, Minister of Justice and Attorney General blamed those who conceal information on places where bodies of genocide victims were thrown. He reminded them that it is punished by the law.
“Those thinking there is valour in concealing information about the bodies are totally wrong because this is a complete cowardice. This day shows that there are people concealing such information, and this is an issue that the government cannot kid with. It is provided within the laws that concealing such information is punished. We will crackdown such a vice”, he stated.
Anyone who deliberately refuses to share information about the possible whereabouts of remains of the victims commits a criminal offence, according to the law.
The Nyanza Memorial Centre where the recovered victims will be have been laid to rest today is already home to over 11,000 Genocide victims, including over 3,000 Tutsi who were slaughtered on April 11, 1994 when a contingent of UN Belgian troops withdrew from ETO-Kicukiro (now IPRC-Kigali), leaving thousands of helpless refugees at the mercy of Interahamwe and ex-FAR soldiers that had already laid siege to the compound. (End)