Remains of near 800 genocide victims exhumed in eastern Rwanda

Remains of at least 791 victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide against Tutsi have been exhumed from the shores of Lake Mugesera in eastern Rwanda since the search started in January, an official said.

Ngoma District President of Rwanda’s umbrella organisation of genocide survivors associations, IBUKA, Jean-Pierre Musafiri said this on Tuesday in Kigali.

The remains were discovered in Rukumbeli Sector, Ngoma District, following a tip-off from a child, who tended goats on the lake shores and spotted human remains including bones and skulls, Musafiri said.

“We intensified the search from Aug. 26 and thereafter have recovered at least 547 remains of the genocide victims.

“The daily search continues until the whole area is combed for human remains.’’

According to him, recovering the remains of the genocide victims is a great relief to survivors, most especially those who didn’t know the whereabouts of their loved ones or didn’t give the victims a decent burial.

More than 40,000 Tutsis killed during the 100-day genocide, which claimed more than one million lives, mainly ethnic Tutsis, have been laid to rest at the Rukumbeli genocide memorial site, according to Musafiri.

He appealed to all Rwandans with information that could help in identifying undisclosed mass graves of the genocide victims to come forward.

Remains of the 1994 Rwandan genocide are still being discovered in many parts of Rwanda.

In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the remains of 118,049 victims were discovered in 17 districts countrywide, according to the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide.

In 2019, the commission said the Rwandan government is considering the use of ground-penetrating radar to locate mass graves for the remains of the victims in order to give them a decent burial. (Xinhua/NAN)