SOUTHERN PROVINCE

NYAMAGABE — Rwanda has been chosen to host an international conference on the conservation of Genocide remains, an official has said.

Speaking to The New Times on Monday, Jean de Dieu Mucyo; the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG) said that the conference that is expected to take place in September will bring together experts in preservation of human remains from all over the world.

He said: "We are faced with a big challenge of preserving Genocide remains. We have contacted a number of people for expert advice on how we can go about this.”

Mucyo noted that a number of teams have been in the country to look for ways of preserving some of the remains for posterity but no solution has been found yet.

"A team from the United Kingdom has been doing a test study on preserving the remains but during the conference we expect to learn more from experiences of countries like Mexico and China in preservation strategies,” he added.

According to Martin Muhoza, the official in-charge of preservation of the proof of Genocide in the commission, a team of researchers from the Cranfield forensic Institute, Cranfield University have finalised tests on some  remains.

"The researchers did tests on 20 victims. They did intensive studies on water levels in the remains, moisture, temperature, height and weight. Preliminary findings indicate that preservation is possible. A full report is expected in September,” said Muhoza.

The remains in the over 10 rooms at Murambi site is a  unique preservation case.

They were exhumed from mass graves where they had little or no contact with water and later preserved using lime. But the remains  have deteriorated with time thus necessitating modern scientific methods of preservation.

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