18 years on, burial of Genocide victims continues

Kayonza/Gatsibo – Remains of Genocide victims were, Wednesday, accorded befitting burials at different memorial centres in the districts of Gatsibo and Kayonza in the Eastern Province.In Mukarange sector, remains of 51 victims who were exhumed from different locations in Kayonza District, were reburied after a requiem mass in their honour at Mukarange Catholic Parish.The Governor of the Eastern Province, Odette Uwamariya, said a decent burial was a sign of respect and commemoration.She noted that the Genocide deprived innocent people the right to life gifted to them by God.“Commemoration affects some people psychologically, but it is essential for the recovery process and to forge a bright future for our country,” she added.“I call upon everyone to work towards shaping the minds of Rwandans…parents, especially, must take it upon themselves to shape their children.If parents had taught their children morals, instead of instilling in them the Genocide ideology, we wouldn’t be mourning here. Genocide is a product of a long propagation of hatred,” she said.One of the survivors, Jean Marie Musoni, said the cruelty with which the Tutsi were killed, cannot be obliterated in peoples’ memories.He noted that Tutsi were tricked by clergymen to seek refuge at churches before they unleashed militias on them.Juliette Uwimana, a member of Ibuka, a survivors’ umbrella body, pointed out that the challenge facing the process of providing a decent burial to Genocide victims was people’s failure to disclose the truth.“We need the accurate information to end the burial process, but regrettably, those who know where the bodies are, have kept quiet,” he lamented.Meanwhile, remains of 86 Genocide victims were also accorded a decent burial at Kiziguro Genocide Memorial site in Gatsibo District.At least 35,000 people are buried at the site, a killing base of the notorious former Murambi Commune Mayor, Jean Baptiste Gatete.He is serving life sentence after he was convicted by the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).Thousands of mourners from all walks of life, survivors and local leaders who converged at Kiziguro cemetery, lay wreaths on the mass graves. The burial ceremony was preceded by a Tuesday night vigil held at Kiziguro Parish where thousands of Tutsi were brutally killed.

National

18 years on, burial of Genocide victims continues