The Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, Jean Damascène Bizimana, on Monday, April 14, peeled back layers of painful truth, confronting the uncomfortable role played by members of the clergy during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. He was speaking during the commemoration more than 30,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide laid to rest in Kibeho-Nyaruguru. Kibeho, known as a sacred site and a beacon of religious devotion, should have been a place of refuge but it became a killing ground. ALSO READ: Kwibuka 31: Youth urged to combat genocide ideology, promote national unity The minister pointed out that the parish had existed since 1934, with six decades of promoting Christian values such as love, coexistence, and tolerance. “A place like Kibeho should never have been a site for the kind of killings that happened there,” Bizimana said. But as Bizimana noted, “This is what makes the genocide unique — no social group was exempt from participating in it, and no place was spared.” Even the church which was expected to provide moral guidance, he said, was not above the violence. Some clergy members did not just fail to protect innocent people but they were active participants in the atrocities. ALSO READ: Speech by the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement at the 31st commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi “Things got even worse because some of those tasked with serving God played a role in planning and executing the genocide,” he said, giving examples such as Father Emmanuel Uwayezu, who was in charge of children at Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci Kibeho, but killed them “and even turned others into killers.” Others include Father Thadeo Rusingizandekwe, who took part in attacks in Nyakibanda and Karama, and Father Anaclet Sebahinde, alias “Shikito,” who became notorious for killing the Tutsi during the genocide. Father Joseph Segahutu, Bizimana’s former schoolmate, was accused of killing the Tutsi in Muganza Parish near Kibeho, in collaboration with local leaders. ALSO READ: Genocide ideology persists through denial, revisionism- Minister warns “Segahutu now lives in Belgium and still holds genocidal discriminatory ideologies, yet he wears the garments of the Catholic church and God,” he said. Bizimana emphasised that even the clergy who didn’t physically take part in the killings had moral responsibilities they failed to uphold. He also turned toward the role of religious education in sowing seeds of hate. Seminaries and Catholic schools, long trusted for their academic rigor, often neglected moral discipline. The minister referred to Urunana, a seminary magazine from Nyakibanda, which, during the early 1990s, became a platform for dangerous propaganda. In one 1990 editorial, Fr. Vincent Kagabo, wrote, “The country has been invaded by inyangarwanda,” using a slur that equated the Tutsi returnees and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) to enemies of Rwanda. ALSO READ: Genocide ideologues, denialists targeting less informed youth, warns Minister “That word — inyangarwanda — was one of the narratives used by genocidaires to stir Hutu anger and justify Tutsi killings,” Bizimana explained. He criticised an October 1990 publication of the religious brothers titled “The Testimony of Foreigners Living in Rwanda: The Anger During War,” which included the views of 47 foreigners backing the genocidal regime’s anti-RPF narrative. The minister said that the fact that foreigners were the ones angry about it shows the extent of the manipulation. These writings, he said, downplayed the refugee crisis and reinforced government propaganda. For Bizimana, the tragedy of the genocide lies not only in the lives lost but in the moral collapse of those who were meant to lead and protect people. He recounted visits to prisons to give them different teachings, especially about national unity and peaceful coexistence, where he met former schoolmates who had become genocide perpetrators. ALSO READ: Healing across generations: How to share Genocide stories with youth “When educated youth commit killings, it’s a serious problem — and even more so when it’s the educated youth who kill,” he said. His message to today’s clergy and educators was direct: be the moral leaders that your roles demand. “We should not only remember the victims without mentioning those who committed the crimes so that it serves as a lesson to others and encourages repentance.”
