Nyamasheke: Local leadership to look for missing Bodies

The event to officially lay the bodies of 44,096 genocide victims to rest, some survivors showed concern over missing corpses believed to be scattered in some places.

In speeches and testimonies, the importance of burying the bodies of 1994 Tutsi genocide victims to their families was the main focus.

Officially laying them to rest gives us the satisfaction that they are respected as they deserve, genocide survivors narrate

In her speech, Murakaza, a survivor from Gihombo sector thanked Nyamasheke district for finding them a place to lay 44096 bodies of their relatives to rest.

Residents who turned up for the burial ceremony

Jean Marie Vianney Bagirishya, Ibuka club representative in Nyamasheke added that the number of bodies is small compared to the number of people that had come to seek refuge at headquarters Gihombo sector (former Rwamatamu sector).

Western Province governor, Céléstin Kabahizi asked local leaders to put more emphasis on finding information on genocide victims’ bodies that are scattered so that they are respectfully laid to rest.

Governor Kabahizi emphasized that scattered bodies of genocide victims have been made a secret by some people yet if disclosed; it can lead to unity and reconciliation among the survivors and genocide participants.

Nyamasheke memorial centre, where 44096 bodies are put to rest took two years to be completed and cost Rwf120 million.