Remains estimated to be between 45 and 50 belonging to presumed victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi were on April 10, found in Lake Gashaka in Mukarange sector, Kayonza district.

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Patrick Kabandana, the Executive Secretary of Mukarange sector, earlier told journalists that the information was initially shared by a resident of Kanyamasha village, Rugendabari cell, and that the remains were removed and taken as investigation commenced.

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Mukarange sector is one of the areas where the whereabouts of hundreds of genocide victims’ remains are yet to be found and given a decent burial.

On Wednesday, 12 April, Didace Ndindabahizi, the president of Ibuka in Kayonza district, told The New Times that he could not be so sure the remains are in fact those of genocide victims before the ongoing investigation conducted by relevant authorities is concluded and the truth comes out.

Ndindabahizi said: "From what we have learnt, so far, a farmer named Eric Munana had gone to his fields early in the morning and, children who were fetching water by the lake side showed him the remains. He duly reported the matter to local authorities.

"As reported, some of the remains were on the bank of the lake while others were in the water, underneath. Investigations then started to get to the bottom of the matter. I arrived at the scene when the remains had already been removed.”

Ndindabahizi did not entirely rule out the possibility of the remains belonging to genocide victims but he emphasised that it was important to wait for the outcome of the investigation.

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Every April 12, residents of Kayonza District and those who hail from the area, converge at Mukarange Catholic Parish Church to remember the Tutsi who were killed at the church during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

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Official documents indicate that in Nyawera and Mukarange sectors, Kayonza District, the dates of April 11-12, 1994 were marked with extremely cruel killings. Interahamwe militia killed a mother – only known as Murebwayire – who was pregnant and they disembowelled her with a machete, removed the foetus and then set them on fire in public.

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As reported, on April 12, 1994, local authorities led by Bourgmestre Célestin Senkware, supported by soldiers, gendarmes and militiamen attacked the Mukarange presbytery to kill the Tutsi. They violently beat the Parish priest, Joseph Gatare, who was also the director of the secondary school in Mukarange. He died shortly after. The Hutu vicar of the parish, Jean Bosco Munyaneza, intervened to save his colleague and all the Tutsi they were sheltering but he was shot on the spot.

A mass extermination of the Tutsi followed.

The genocide mastermind in the area included all local leaders and other opinion leaders. They included Senkware, businessman Thomas Kanyangoga, a diplomat called Augustin Ngabonzima and his son Jean Claude Ngabonzima (teacher), Sgt Edouard Nsengiyumva, a primary school inspector called Nsabimana, alias Kiyoni, as well as teachers including Côme Kayisabe, Simparikubwabo alias Simba, and Joseph Tuyishime.