Editor, Reference is made to the article, “Having failed militarily, enemies of Rwanda have resorted to lies” (The New Times, February 1). I was born and raised in Butare. Before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi my family and relatives included more than 200 people. We were spread out in the former communes of Huye, Mbazi, Shyanda, Rushashya, Runyinya, Rusatira, Maraba, Ngoma, Nyamagabe (Gikongoro) and Sake (Kibungo). After 1994, only 10 of us had survived the Genocide. The abandoned places and physical disfigurements many of my relatives bear indicate the barbarism of the genocidaires. The former Butare Prefecture was the most populated in Rwanda with nearly 800,000 people; some communes had more than 50 per cent of Tutsi population and many families were wiped out completely. This is not an “untold story”—it is a reality. Certainly, if BBC’s Jane Corbin was interested in telling the true story, she should have visited Huye District and interviewed Genocide survivors and their neighbours. I believe that she would have been stunned by the saddening narratives of survivors and probably recognised the heroism of Rwanda Patriotic Army and its Commander in Chief, President Paul Kagame. Even few courageous Hutu who did not participate in the killings, without Rwanda Patriotic Army’ interventions, their days were numbered. Butare
