Africa-Press – Rwanda. Remains of 153 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, recovered from various parts of Bugesera District, were accorded a decent burial on Wednesday, 15 April, at Ntarama Genocide Memorial.
The remains include 148 discovered in Mwogo Sector and others from Ntarama, Mayange, Nyamata, and Musenyi.
Genocide survivor Coletha Akaniwabo, who was born in Mwogo Sector, is the only child who survived among seven siblings. Photos by Craish Bahizi
Ntarama Genocide Memorial, which is the final resting place for more than 5,000 Genocide victims, is a former Catholic church. The church-turned-memorial contains shelves of human remains, clothing, and personal items left by Tutsi civilians who had fled to there before they were attacked by government soldiers and Interahamwe militia in April 1994.
Coletha Akaniwabo, who was born in Mwogo Sector, is the only child who survived among seven siblings. Her husband was also killed at Rukira Pentecostal Church, and his body was thrown into a river.
Akaniwabo, who had been forced to drop out of school, recalls discrimination against the Tutsi in the education sector.
“I did not know whether I was Tutsi or Hutu. All children would bring food, and we would share without mentioning whether it came from a Tutsi or Hutu family,” she said.
A dignified burial of 153 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi at Ntarama Genocide Memorial on Wednesday, April 15.
However, as time passed, things changed.
“Teachers started to call Tutsi students by different names and would beat them if they did not stand up when called by dehumanising names such as “Kigozi cups” (used containers of Guigoz baby milk). We used Kigozi cups for milking cows. From then on, classmates would call you Kigozi. I did not understand why I was being called Kigozi. We were told to ask our parents about our ethnic group,” she said.
She recalls crossing the Akagera River, fleeing to Kicukiro District near Saint Joseph Catholic Church due to persecution against the Tutsi. In 1993, she got married.
Ntarama Genocide Memorial, a former Catholic church, is the final resting place for about 5,000 victims. Photo by Craish Bahizi.
“Flags of MDR were raised by cadres. Neighbours vowed that one day they would take and eat Tutsi cattle. One evening, we heard that President Habyarimana’s plane had crashed. My husband’s friend said we would all be killed because of the plane crash. Gunfire was heard in Kigali, as we were bordering Kicukiro in areas such as Gahanga, Masaka, and Juru,” she said.
In April, Interahamwe militia attacked.
“It was my first time hearing gunshots and grenades. The Hutu in the community carried machetes and paraded in the streets. On April 10, Interahamwe attacks intensified. Tutsi men took up arrows and spears and resisted. However, they became exhausted and were overpowered,” she recalled.
Akaniwabo was an Pentecostal believer.
When the Genocide started, she hoped pastors and priests would save the Tutsi, but the reality was different.
She said that, under the guidance of a brave man called Nzaramba, they decided to flee towards churches in Nyamata, hoping to survive.
“We had to cross a bridge to reach Nyamata. However, on the way, even my former classmates were on the road committing genocide, watching us without making any effort to save us,” she said.
Akaniwabo said thousands of Tutsi were fleeing from her area.
“I never felt hungry because we were constantly running to escape the Interahamwe. I was pregnant and still managed to walk. On the way, a police officer called Bwanakweli took part in killing many Tutsi. At Rurenge Hill, killers used guns.
Men fought back using spears and arrows to help us cross the bridge towards Nyamata Church. When we reached Karambi Primary School, Tutsi had been killed and vultures were feeding on the bodies,” she recounted.
The men eventually became too tired and discouraged to continue resisting the Interahamwe militia.
How Pastor Jean Uwinkindi betrayed the Tutsi
“We reached Kayumba Hill and saw soldiers shooting cows and Tutsi. We stayed on the hill, and they also shot at us. There were Pentecostal believers and pastors among us,” she said.
Akaniwabo remembers how Pastor Jean Uwinkindi promised to lead and save them.
However, the pastor betrayed the Tutsi.
“On our way to the Pentecostal Church of Kayenzi, where Uwinkindi was serving, we expected him to save us, but instead we experienced tragedy. Jean Uwinkindi distributed clothes worn by believers to be baptised to the Interahamwe. They appeared like men of God who would save us. The Interahamwe hid machetes inside those clothes and suddenly began killing us,” she recalled.
Akaniwabo testified that a young man called Karuranga, who had survived, was ordered to bury his relatives.
After doing so, he suffered severe trauma.
The decent burial held at Ntarama Genocide Memorial on Wednesday
“Karuranga was later killed by the Interahamwe militia,” she said.
Uwinkindi, a former pastor at the Pentecostal Church of Kayenzi in Nyamata Sector, Bugesera District, is serving a life sentence at Nyanza Correctional Facility for genocide and crimes against humanity.
The court convicted Uwinkindi for crimes committed between April and May 1994.
Between 100 and 150 Tutsi had sought refuge at Kayenzi Pentecostal Church, where Uwinkindi was a pastor.
The court found that killings of Tutsi took place at Rwankeri and Kanzenze Hills were led by Uwinkindi.
Uwinkindi was arrested on June 30, 2010, in Kampala, Uganda. On July 2, 2010, he was transferred to the UN Detention Facility in Arusha, Tanzania. In November 2010, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda requested his transfer to Rwanda.
On June 29, 2011, the ICTR Referral Chamber ruled in favour of the transfer, marking the first time in the tribunal’s history to do so.
Bugesera District Mayor Richard Mutabazi highlighted the tragic uniqueness of Ntarama Genocide Memorial
Regaining hope after 32 years
Akaniwabo recalleld that when Inkotanyi intervened on Kayumba Hill, the Tutsi regained hope after being rescued and taken to a camp.
“I studied and completed my education. My children have also studied. I have six children and two grandchildren. I spent many years without interacting with others because we did not know the whereabouts of our relatives who had been dumped. Today, I am healing, and I am happy that more survivors are recovering the remains of their loved ones for a decent burial,” she said.
The remains include 148 recently discovered in Mwogo, along with others from Ntarama, Mayange, Nyamata, and Musenyi
Angelique Mukandeze, a Genocide survivor who represented families whose loved ones were accorded a decent burial on Wednesday, said her mother’s remains were recovered from a farm.
“The owner of the farm sold it, and the buyer discovered the body while tilling the land. We urge communities and Genocide perpetrators to share information about where our loved ones were dumped.”
Bugesera District Mayor Richard Mutabazi highlighted the tragic uniqueness of Ntarama Genocide Memorial.
“It bears the painful distinction of being a place where infants were brutally killed, smashed against walls,” Mutabazi said.
He also stated that the continued discovery of bodies of Tutsi victims, 32 years after the Genocide, is not only a sign of the brutality with which it was carried out, but also evidence of attempts to deny it and conceal the truth.
Evode Ndatsikira, Commissioner in charge of Research, Development, Capacity Building, and Investment at IBUKA, the organisation of genocide survivors, said unity and reconciliation among Rwandans continue to improve despite the lasting effects of the Genocide.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, Yves Iradukunda, reiterated that commemorating the Genocide against the Tutsi sends a message and a lesson that will help prevent its recurrence in Rwanda and around the world.
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