CNLG to focus on five memorial sites

KIGALI - As a way of ensuring proper conservation of remains of Genocide victims and the history of the 1994 tragedy, the National Commission for the fight Against the Genocide (CNLG), has said that it will prioritize five major memorial sites in the country. The development comes after it was established that remains of thousands of victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi were in unkempt sites in several parts of the country. According to Martin Muhoza, in charge of conservation of Genocide remains at CNLG, the five priority sites are Murambi, Bisesero, Nyarubuye, Ntarama and Nyamata sites. “These sites have been prioritised mainly because they are places where many people were killed,” he said, adding that they are still carrying on with a campaign of searching for other remains that are yet to be accorded decent burial so that they are transferred to the sites. Recently, Theodore Simburudari, the president of IBUKA, the umbrella body of Genocide survivors’ associations, pleaded with government that memorial sites be properly kept, arguing that it was another source of trauma among survivors. However, Muhoza said that the commission was making sure that these remains are well conserved, including commissioning a study to identify how best to conserve them. The British experts who are conducting the study, according to Muhoza, came up with a proposal to put in place mobile laboratories that can help better conserve the remains, but hastened to add that the study is still ongoing. He said that once complete, findings of the experts who came from the UK-based human body conservation department at Cranfield University will be implemented depending on the available means. Meanwhile, the Minister of Sports and Culture Joseph Habineza told The New Times that all sites in the country will be taken care of.. He said that a descent burial or conservation of the body remains in several sites was in a process but the budget was yet to be approved to begin with the priority sites. Ends