Efforts to recover the remains of genocide victims who were dumped at the premises of ADEPR church in Gahogo in Muhanga District are being undermined by people who conceal information, Genocide survivors have said.

Through their umbrella body of Genocide survivors’ associations Ibuka, survivors want to give a decent burial to their loved ones killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

They said this as efforts to recover the victim’s remains at Gahogo, where many Tutsi were massacred by Interahamwe militias, resumed on Monday, March 22. 

An excavator demolishes a house nearby ADEPR Church in Gahogo in Muhanga District to facilitate the exhumation of remains of victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi from a mass grave. Photo: Courtesy.

Naphtal Ahishakiye, the Executive Secretary of Ibuka, told The New Times that people in the area are hiding information that would help searchers locate the  victims’ remains at the church premises.

"One body was recovered on Monday,” he said, adding that they are yet to ascertain the number bodies that have been recovered so far. 

The history

While explaining the genocide history of the place, Ahishakiye said that two roadblocks were set up near the church premises by Interahamwe militia.

One of the most notorious perpetrators who has until now successfully evaded justice is one only identified Bokorachini, as disclosed by Ahishakiye.

The current church structure was constructed in 1998, four years after the genocide.

However, during its construction, some bodies of genocide victims were discovered but the leaders at the church kept quiet about it. The remains were dumped in nearby areas as construction works on the church continued, Ahishakiye disclosed.

It only came into the public domain recently following conflicts within church members that triggered various accusations, including claims that some of them were hiding information about genocide victims dumped in the area.

This attracted the attention of the authorities.  

"In 2019, nine bodies of genocide victims were exhumed while three more were discovered a year later,” Ahishakiye narrated, explaining that this prompted arrests of some ADEPR church leaders.

They were later released by court. But prosecution appealed.

"We are waiting for the court's decision,” he said.  

Moreover, according Ahishakiye, people are also still reluctant to disclose information about the victims’ remains, and this happening in different parts of the country.

"Genocide victims continue to seek justice so that their loved ones can be given a decent burial.”

The exhuming activity around church premises is being conducted by local leaders, police, Rwanda Investigation Bureau, survivors associations among others.

"We have not yet gotten full information if there are remains underneath the church. If we get any information, we’ll assess it and decide on the next course of action, including demolishing the church,” he said.

Call for reconciliation

The fact that some Rwandan still hide such information is cause for concern after several years of reconciliation efforts, he said.

"Revealing the whereabouts of victims’ remains is part of the process to heal society and foster reconciliation. It heals the heart of genocide survivor and also the persons with information about the whereabouts of victims’ remains,” he said.

The call is made ahead of the 27th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Over a million people were killed in just three years.