Yahoo – AFP,
Arafat Mugabo, May 4, 2019
 |
A woman carries flowers to offer before the mass funeral to bury 81 coffins
containing newly discoverd remains of 84,437 victims of the 1994 genocide in
the mass grave at the Nyanza Genocide Memorial, suburb of the capital Kigali, on
May 4, 2019. The remains of nearly 85,000 people murdered in Rwanda's genocide
were laid to rest on May 4 in a sombre ceremony in Kigali, a quarter of a century
after the slaughter (AFP Photo/Yasuyoshi CHIBA) |
Kigali
(AFP) - The remains of nearly 85,000 people murdered in Rwanda's genocide were
laid to rest Saturday in a sombre ceremony in Kigali, a quarter of a century
after the slaughter.
Mourners
sobbed as 81 white coffins containing the remains of 84,437 victims of the 1994
mass killings were buried at the Nyanza Genocide Memorial in the capital.
They were
among more than 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, massacred over 100 days by Hutu
extremists and militia forces determined to eradicate the Tutsi minority in
Rwanda.
Rwanda
begins 100 days of mourning every April 7 -- the day the genocide began. But this
year has witnessed particular commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary.
"Commemorating
the genocide against the Tutsi is every Rwandan’s responsibility -- and so is
giving them a decent burial," said Justice Minister Johnston Busingye at
the mass burial.
Some
mourners broke down wailing as survivors spoke of the pain of losing their
loved ones so brutally. A number were escorted from the funeral by ushers.
Emanuel
Nduwayezu said the discovery meant he finally had somewhere to come each April
7 and lay a wreath in memory of his murdered family.
"Right
now I am very happy because I have buried my dad, my sister and her children,
and my in-law. Twenty-five years have passed and I had not known where they
were," he told AFP.
"Everyday
I was thinking and getting confused (about) where my dad was but now I found
him and I have a buried him.”
The remains
of those interred on Saturday were only found early last year, when 143 pits
containing thousands of bone and clothing fragments were discovered beneath
homes on the outskirts of Kigali.
Those
exhumed for burial on Saturday came from just 43 such pits -- leaving 100 more
to go.
A
painstaking effort was undertaken so that family members could identify their
loved ones by their teeth, clothing and other markings.
They join
11,000 other victims already laid to rest at the Nyanza Genocide Memorial.
Grim
discovery
Jean-Pierre
Dusingizemungu, who heads Ibuka, an umbrella organisation for genocide
survivors, said a landlord from the area revealed the location of the graves
only after he was threatened with arrest.
More pits
were later found when a man, tasked in 1994 with dumping corpses, came forward
with new information.
Dusingizemungu
said it was likely those living on the graves knew what lay beneath their
homes.
"It is
unfortunate that... these perpetrators, now free, never bothered to reveal to
bereaved families the location of these grave sites, so they could get
closure," he said.
Clementine
Ingabire was the sole survivor from her extended family of 23 who were
massacred in the frenzy.
Seven of
her relatives were identified from the pits, their remains scattered among the
coffins. But at least they were granted a dignified burial, she said.
Just seven
at the time, Ingabire remains incredulous she made it out alive.
"Despite
the fact that most people were very cruel, there were those who took risks to
save others," the 32-year-old said.
"I was
saved by a Hutu woman who was a good friend to my mother. She saw me running
and grabbed me... that's how I survived."
The ethnic
bloodshed ended on July 4 when mainly Tutsi rebels entered Kigali, chasing the
genocidal killers out of Rwanda. The rebel general was Paul Kagame, who became
Rwanda's president and has remained in power ever since.)
