Remains of 16 Genocide victims were yesterday given beffiting burial in Nyarubuye Sector, Kirehe District. Kirehe District is composed of the former communes of Rusumo and Rukira. The whereabouts of the remains were finally revealed by Genocide convicts after 21 years of hesitation, according to Vincent Nsengiyumva, an Ibuka official in the district. “The convicts had refused to tell the truth about the whereabouts of these remains until last week. It is now 21 years…but all we can say is ‘better late than never’, he added. The event coincided with district’s Genocide commemoration that attracted hundreds of mourners. Two days of ruthless assault and killings at Nyarubuye Catholic Church in 1994 are still fresh in the minds of survivors. Survivors said Nyarubuye Church, which had been used by the Tutsi as a refuge, during the Genocide was turned into a slaughter house. “We had sought refuge here, among us were some Hutus but they were spared. The church was turned into a slaughter house, where Tutsi were ruthlessly killed using machetes, guns and grenades, which were thrown into the church.”Alex Rurangwa, a survivor said.. Yohana Gacumbitsi, another Nyarubuye survivor, recalled that they had taken refuge in the church because places of worship were generally regarded as inviolable and therefore safe. The commemoration was preceded by a four kilometre ‘walk to remember’ from a place where the first Tutsi in the area was killed, to the memorial site and Church. The memorial is in the convent, where the majority of the killings took place. The compound at Nyarubuye’s church was also kept as a memorial for those whose lives were lost. The Governor of the Eastern Province, Odette Uwamariya, urged the youth to work towards a society that’s free of conflict and genocide.
