Survivor group preaches reconciliation in prisons

HUYE – About 57 genocide convicts in Huye district have so far owned up and shown remorse for their role in the 1994 genocide as a result of efforts by association -Ubutwari bwo kubaho in Karama Sector. The association is composed of over 1,700 members who are mainly women genocide survivors and those whose husbands are doing time in prison for their role in the genocide. According to the association’s president, Françoise Mukagatare, the organization is driven by the desire to promote unity and reconciliation despite the ugly past. “As women in the association, we share the same problem of not having our husbands though for different reasons. In our association we have gone beyond ethnic considerations, we are determined to live together peacefully and we are determined to rebuild our lives,” said Mukagatare. Through the association, members have put efforts together to embark on development projects and to spread reconciliation. “We are now living as one, ethnic differences are a thing of the past, I can spend a night at a genocide survivor’s house. She can do likewise. This should act as an example to people still entangled with the dark past,” said Angélique Kayitesi, another member of the association. According to the members, coming together has meant understanding better the problems that they are faced with. The members have also taken a leading role in sensitizing their husbands in prison to confess their crimes and implored them to ask forgiveness as a way of forging unity and reconciliation. Ends