A new bill tabled in the Chamber of Deputies this week seeks to close down memorial sites and cemeteries in bad state of repair by relocating remains of genocide victims to designated district Genocide memorials.

The draft law which was tabled by Julienne Uwacu, the Minister for Sports and Culture, will classify memorial sites into categories and if necessary relocate some.

The bill also seeks to replace law N°56/2008 of 10/09/2008 governing memorials and cemeteries of victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi in all of its clauses.

According to Article 16 of the draft law, the remains of victims buried in locations other than memorial sites shall be reburied with dignity when their families take the initiative or in agreement with district officials.

It is prohibited for a Genocide victim to be moved from a memorial site to a normal cemetery, the bill says.

It also puts memorial sites into four categories; national memorial sites, district memorial sites, special memorial sites, and international memorial sites.

National memorial sites shall be managed by the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) and shall have a particular history of national relevance relating to the planning and execution of the Genocide.

There shall be at least one memorial site in every district. Their management shall be the responsibility of districts which shall have a budget every year to build, repair and ensure day-to-day management of sites.

Special memorial sites are those located in foreign countries, in government or private institutions, and shall be managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the Rwandan diplomatic missions in the country they are located.

The bill doesn’t describe international memorial sites but Uwacu explained that it’s those adopted by the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) as part of the world heritage.

"CNLG cannot afford to take care of all the Genocide memorial sites. Local government officials should take care of some of them,” the minister said.

While the proposal in article 16 of the new bill to relocate bodies may sound as if it is mandatory, the Executive Secretary of CNLG, Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana, said it was not the case.

"Memorial sites in good state of repair will be kept in their locations, but those that don’t meet the standards for their security and effective conservation of the bodies will be relocated to the district memorial sites,” he said.Members of Parliament told the minister that the law should be clear on the how sites are protected and who protects them to ensure for a better conservation of victims’ bodies.

"The law needs to clarify who is in charge of taking care of the memorial sites and how,” said Edouard Bamporiki.Overall, most legislators approved the basis of the bill, which means that debates on the law will proceed in a parliamentary committee.

The Minister also presented a draft law to protect the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge.

 Speaking to Sunday Times, yesterday, Uwacu said it would help preserve the national historical heritage and its development.

"We didn’t have a law protecting the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge, because the 1939 Decree on the protection of sites, monuments and production of indigenous art is not updated,” she said.

"We heard of a place in Bumbogo—Kimironko Sector, which had historical trees called "Ibimana” –loosely translated as gods, which people believed to be used for rituals. Unfortunately, some of those trees were cut down by the Energy utility body as they erected electricity poles. This did not go well with the locals who associated with the magical trees.

"Those are a few cases that inspired having this legislation in place so that we know and have guidelines to preserve and protect our cultural and traditional knowledge,” Uwacu reiterated.

The new proposed law will provide the means by which the protected cultural properties generate income and benefits to the country even the owners.

In a recent interview with this paper, Alphonse Umuliisa, the Director General of the Institute of the National Museums of Rwanda (INMR), said cultural heritage and traditions can rake in millions of dollars if well preserved.

 "Cultural heritage and traditional knowledge is a big investment, we need to protect and preserve them for present and future generations.

 This partly explains why the government has renovated numerous heritages and cultural sites making them suitable for visitors.

Before 2007, there was only one museum in Rwanda, the National Museum of Rwanda, located in Huye District, in the Southern Province. Since then, the number has increased eightfold.

With a rich history that goes back centuries, Rwanda has over 300 historical sites, according to INMR, there are plenty of places that deserve protection.

The bill will act as an inventory of types of cultural property to be registered for preservation, protection and the modalities of making it, and underlined Penalties for unlawful use of traditional knowledge and expression of folklore protected under this draft law.