Remains of over 130 Genocide victims were on Monday given a befitting burial at Mwurire memorial site in Rwamagana District. Mwurire is one of the sectors in Rwamagana District where many Tutsi were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The site already had remains of over 25,000 victims. At the burial ceremony, Odette Uwamariya, the Governor of the Eastern Province, said the torture and murder of the Tutsi, exhibited a primitive ideology of the highest order. The Governor said it is absurd that there are some people who think that the Genocide can occur again, assuring residents that the Government will never give them room. “You should keep away from genocide ideology and denial…we have been moving on the right track. We cannot thus accept anyone trying to stand in the way towards achieving lasting unity and reconciliation,” she said. The representatives of Ibuka who spoke one after another, called upon survivors and Rwandans in general to always remember the Genocide so as to achieve lasting unity. Wilson Ntaganira, a survivor said that commemorations are important as they remind Rwandans of the tragedy that befell the country. He recalled how the victims in Mwurire suffered gruesome murder at the hands of the Interahamwe militia and the then government soldiers. “They attacked us time and again unfortunately we only had stones at our disposal to fight armed militia. We reached Rwamagana, where we joined hundreds of thousands of Tutsi, who had taken refuge in a missionary school,” he said. “We remained on the offensive until we were overwhelmed by a big and heavily armed force. Children and women were the first to be killed, followed by men. We will never forget the tragedy.” editorial@newtimes.co.rw
