Genocide memories will never fade in the minds of survivors. Many survivors have tales of miraculous escape and rescue from the claws of death. 

Among the rescue missions were those mounted by Rwanda Patriotic Army from place to place and one that stands out is the operation at St Paul Training Centre near St Famille Catholic Church.

Gilbert Rutayisire Masengo was among of the lucky ones.

Video: Eyewitnesses (a survivor and an officer) at Operation St Paul in 1994. Source: The New Times/YouTube

Masengo went to St Paul days after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi started. His parents and some of his neighbours had been killed in the first days of the Genocide.

At a nearby hostel operated by Saint Famille Catholic Church, tens of girls who lived there had also been killed.

"We came to this place because we expected to be protected. Being a Catholic-run training centre, we had everything; food, water and we had access to various facilities,” says Masengo.

His journey to St Paul wasn’t smooth, despite living just a kilometre away. It took him eight hours to get to St Paul as road blocks were everywhere.

The in-charge of St Paul was Fr Celestin Hakizimana. Survivors say he was merciful. He fed the Tutsi who sought refuge and stepped in to protect them whenever there was an imminent attack on the centre.

Masengo says Fr Hakizimana was a real father to the Tutsi who were there.

Next door, at St Famille, Fr Wenscelas Munyeshyaka was in charge. His legacy during the Genocide is tainted with blood on his hands for turning against his flock and being involved in the killing of Tutsi.

Masengo, then aged 23, and a member of opposition Liberal Party, remembers seeing trucks carrying bodies of Tutsi killed by Interahamwe militia and being taken for dumping in nearby septic holes.

"They killed one by one at St Famille and their bodies were carried to be dumped in septic holes that became mass graves,” Masengo says.

Interahamwe militia and local leaders used to come to both St Paul and St Famille with lists of Tutsi to kill. But at St Paul, Fr Hakizimana bought time by paying the killers off and they would leave without killing anybody.

However, the situation started getting worse and the militia started invading the centre and taking some Tutsi.

Masengo remembers an attack on St Paul on June 14, 994, when the militia took over 70 boys, tied them together and tortured them. None of those taken returned and later they learnt they were killed.

Two days later, one of those who sought refuge at St Paul was gripped by fear and decided to leave the centre.

As he was sneaking away, luck appeared to be trailing him as his shadow and the fellow found himself in an area controlled by Rwanda Patriotic Army.

He met then Maj Jacob Tumwine, now a retired Colonel, who was a commanding officer in Bravo Battalion that was manning the area.

A commander’s account

Maj Tumwine heard of the killing that was going on inside St Famille and St Paul and knew they had to act or else more people would die.

"As a commander, I also had to seek permission from my superior. I was told to plan but the process in army was that we also had to seek permission from overall commander, without delay we were given a go-ahead,” Tumwine says.

The rescue mission begun at 1am, and lasted about four hours.

"We took four companies to rescue the Tutsi but the enemy was everywhere, the area was heavily guarded by Ex-Far soldiers, heavy weapons were installed at Kabuga building, at Rubangura building, others were at Kacyiru and Camp Kigali, Presidential Guards and other soldiers were deployed everywhere,” he recalls.

"One of our companies attacked and started fighting the enemy, pushing them down to Kabuga Building in Muhima while another company fought from Kacyiru to pave way for other two companies so that the enemy would not form a coalition against us.

"At the same time, other two companies snaked through St Famille and St Paul but one of them was at the main roundabout to prevent presidential guard from intervening.

"That company split into two and went down to St Famille and St Paul, respectively, but those who went to Saint Famille found the church closed. They knocked at the doors but those inside refused to open. They did not trust us and were not sure who we were.

"We were conflicted. We could not force ourselves in with firearms because inside were armed militiamen who could easily kill those inside, or simply, the refugees could die in crossfire.

"We decided to go to St Paul. We decided to quickly evacuate those at St Paul because it would be dangerous the next morning as the enemy had already identified our positions and could mobilise more forces to attack us.

This would have jeopardised our rescue mission.

"We then decided to leave in the wee hours, with more than 2,000 people rescued, including elderly persons and children of all ages. It took long to get people moving, some wanted to go with their belongings but we told them that what mattered was their lives, and it involved negotiating with them. We had to push them so that we could leave before dawn.

"A day after rescuing those at St Paul, we heard over the radio news about some Tutsi who were rescued and calls for the soldiers and Interahamwe militia to kill the remaining Tutsi at St Famille.”

It is 22 years since the successful mission but in the minds of the survivors and the brave men who carried out the rescue operation, the memories are unforgettable.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw