A few days ago, five men from Nyanza District were arrested on charges of participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. This was thirty years later, and it could have been longer, had it not for one person who during a misunderstanding while in a bar, accused one of them of having killed a child called Uwase during the Genocide, a claim the accused he didn’t deny. ALSO READ: Nyanza DPC recalled amid reports linking him to Genocide crimes In the same area, the District Police Commander, Superintendent Eugene Musonera, was recently accused for taking part in the Genocide in this district where he was deployed recently. The allegations led to his being recalled by the Rwanda National Police leadership to pave way for investigations into these claims. Local media report that those who survived from the area knew him well, although they hadn’t seen him in a long time. The news on his recall came after the district held a commemoration event and those who knew him were shocked. This information, surfacing now, including that on mass graves that are being discovered from different parts of the country three decades later, is a stark reminder that we still have a long way to go in terms of reconciliation and respecting the memory. Withholding information for three decades, when crimes were committed in the open, shows negative solidarity among some members of society, when in actuality, truth is the foundation of reconciliation. ALSO READ: Hiding whereabouts of genocide bodies undermines reconciliation gains, we must act Truth is necessary for forgiveness to take place, without which reconciliation would not be possible. Giving information on what happened during the Genocide is an obligation, because it also makes way for justice. We also owe it to the victims and survivors, because then, they have information on how their loved ones were killed and to give them a decent burial.
