KIGALI - An international conference on conservation of Genocide evidence kicked off yesterday with experts calling for more advanced means in ensuring that remains are conserved for a long period of time.

The two-day conference organized by the National Commission for the fight against the Genocide (CNLG) is taking place at the Kigali Serena Hotel.

Participants drawn from various institutions will discuss the scientific and technical options of conserving human remains as well as finding the costs of the options of conserving the remains.

Alan Mcclue a fellow of the Forensic Institute of Cranfield University, said that memorial sites in the country have different needs and that advice on their improvement will be given depending on the state of each of them.

"There is a proposal for the development of a mobile laboratory that will go from one location to another. In there, we will conserve, treat and preserve documents, artifacts as well as human remains,” Mcclue told reporters yesterday.

Citing Murambi memorial centre, he advised that they be displayed where there is constant temperature and humidity.

"There will be need for doing a number of treatments like fumigation, stabilizing the chemical to have the remains stored in a proper state for a longer period of time,” he said.  

Amanda Roberts, a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist, observed that while some remains at Murambi Genocide Memorial are still well preserved, others have deteriorated.

"What we need to concentrate on are the bodies that are well preserved at the moment so we continue to preserve them for a long time,” she said.

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