Police to investigate construction workers over Genocide remains

SOUTHERN PROVINCE HUYE – Construction workers at a prominent Motel in Butare town face investigation for failure to report the presence of Genocide remains at a site on which a house was constructed, Police have said.

Monday, March 16, 2009
RELIEVED: MP Mukamuranga Sebera Henriette.

SOUTHERN PROVINCE

HUYE – Construction workers at a prominent Motel in Butare town face investigation for failure to report the presence of Genocide remains at a site on which a house was constructed, Police have said.

On Tuesday March 10, the remains of five genocide victims were reportedly exhumed at Motel Mont Huye in Butare town following information given by one Jean Bosco Sibomana, who was convicted of Genocide charges by Gacaca court in 2006.

The victims who included Silas Sebera, husband to Member of Parliament Henriette Mukamurangwa Sebera, were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Speaking to reporters last Tuesday, Mukamurangwa said that the construction workers at the Motel should be investigated for their failure to report the presence of the remains.

"The remains were found just close to the foundation of the building. They were well placed to see them. As such their behaviour should be investigated,” she told reporters. According to Police sources, one person has already been arrested for questioning as a full investigation is launched.

"The remains were found near the surface. People who did construction work here should have been able to see these remains,” he said.

Sibomana testified that he was among the people who buried the remains in a tarpaulin. However, when the bodies were exhumed the tarpaulin was missing.

He told reporters that he had been threatened by people he could not name against revealing the whereabouts of the remains.

"I feel relieved now because the remains of the people I buried here have been found. I apologise to the families of the bereaved for the traumatic times they have endured,” said Sibomana.

The MP who was able to identify her late husband’s remains by the clothes he wore also expressed relief after seeing the remains.

"I’m now relieved after 15 years since my husband was killed. We shall accord him a decent burial on April 21 to coincide with the day he was killed,” she said.

Those killed along with Silas Sebera include his younger brother Martin Hakizimana, Bosco Ntirushwamaboka, a brother to Mukamurangwa and one Gasore, a businessman.

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