Over 100 Genocide victims reburied

Remains of over 126 Genocide victims were yesterday accorded a decent burial at Kiziguro and Mukarange Genocide Memorial sites in Gatsibo and Kayonza districts respectively. Kiziguro memorial site is located around a manhole in which bodies of over 14,000 victims of the Genocide were dumped after a mass slaughter at Kiziguro Parish. Remains of at least 26 victims were given decent burial at Kiziguro memorial site. In Mukarange Sector, the remains of over 100 people recently exhumed were reburied after a requiem mass at Mukarange Catholic Parish. In total, more than 9,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are buried at Mukarange memorial site. The reburial ceremony at Kiziguro was preceded by a 2 kilometre ‘walk to remember’ that ended at the memorial site. The walk attracted several officials. While addressing mourners, the Minister of State for Primar and Secondary Education, Olivier Rwamukwaya, said it was important to honour the victims with a decent burial. “Remembrance is essential for the healing process and toward building a brighter future for our country,” he added. “I call upon everyone to work towards shaping the minds of Rwandans…parents, especially, must nurture their children. If communities had taught children morals, instead of instilling in them genocide ideology, we wouldn’t be grieving today.” Jean Muhayimana, a survivor, said it was difficult to forget the brutality with which the Tutsi were killed. He recalled how victims were tricked by the clergy to seek refuge in churches only to unleash killers on them. Survivors said there was evidence to the effect that systematic killings of Tutsi in Kiziguro, Gatsibo District were undertaken years before the 1994 Genocide. “It was a tragedy. A tragedy that started many years way before the Genocide of 1994.” said Pierre Karamage, a 65 year old survivor. Having watched most of the cold blooded killings in the former Murambi commune for years, Karamage recalled the history of Genocide in Kiziguro. “For many years, this commune was led by brutal leaders like the infamous Jean Baptiste Gatete. “He led the commune from 1987 to 1993 with an iron fist. This man was a virulent enemy of the Tutsi,” he said. “He sentenced Tutsi to death at his will. Yet no one could raise an alarm since the whole commune was led by Interahamwe militias”. Gatete is currently serving 40 years in prison at the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

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Over 100 Genocide victims reburied