Beatha Muteteri was in primary school pupil in the early 1990s when fear began to define her childhood and family life. In Kagarama, Kicukiro District, nights were often spent fleeing rather than sleeping at home, as violence against Tutsi families escalated. Her father had already been targeted and his arm broken by Interahamwe militia who accused him of having a son among the RPA Inkotanyi fighters. At school, Muteteri endured humiliation rooted in ethnic division. ALSO READ: Thousands gather to honour Tutsi abandoned by Belgian forces at ETO Kicukiro Following the death of President Juvénal Habyarimana on April 6, violence spread rapidly across Kigali. Gunshots were heard across the city, and attacks on Tutsi families began immediately. Many fled their homes in search of safety, with thousands gathering at ETO Kicukiro, where UN peacekeepers were based. As the Genocide against the Tutsi began on April 7, 1994, Muteteri's mother gathered the children and took them to Ecole Technique Officielle (ETO) Kicukiro, where Belgian troops serving under the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) were stationed. Like hundreds of other displaced people, they believed they would find protection at the school. People continuously arrived in large numbers, many already injured, others carrying accounts of killings happening outside. The number of refugees continued to grow each day, reaching more than 3,000 by April 11. ALSO READ: April 11, 1994: The abandonment at ETO that left 2,000 Tutsi killed Despite the growing danger, hope remained that the presence of international forces would offer protection. But on April 10, signs of the troops' withdrawal could be felt. On April 11, the Belgian troops began packing their belongings and loading their vehicles, even taking their pets with them as the displaced Tutsi civilians watched. The displaced people pleaded with the UN troops not to leave, standing in their way and gunshots were fired into the air to disperse them. Immediately the local authorities and Interahamwe militia ordered the refugees to move. They were marched from ETO downhill toward Sonatube roundabout and then forced to walk toward Nyanza-Kicukiro, where their fate waited them. “On our way, the soldiers were killing some people,” Muteteri recalled on Saturday, April 11, during the commemoration event held at Nyanza-Kicukiro Genocide Memorial. “Others were undressed and their belongings taken. The weak were beaten for not moving fast enough, including the elderly.” At one point, she overheard attackers discussing where to take them. “One said, ‘Let us take them to Nyabarongo River.’ Another replied that the garbage should be where other garbage belongs.” This is was in reference to the landfill that was on Nyanza hill. In Nyanza, the refugees were ordered to separate. “The soldiers said the Hutus who had followed the ‘foolish Tutsi’ should step aside,” she recalled. “Those who tried to lie were met with violence immediately.” The killings began. “There was a woman in front of me who was hit by a grenade. Her head was cut off in front of me. I thought I was next,” Muteteri said. She ran toward a nearby banana plantation, hoping to escape. There, she encountered a man she knew and called out to him, thinking he would help her. Instead, she found herself near another man holding a child who was pleading for his life. Muteteri recalled the shocking encounter of a child begging to be spared. “You are going to kill me as well? Forgive me, let me first pray,” Muteteri recalled the child's words to the man. “Pray for what?” the man responded. Muteteri managed to run again, but a man struck her with a machete on the back. She fled back toward the crowd and hid among the dead bodies. “I remained hiding there until it got dark,” she said. She soon reconnected with her her sister, who was still alive. She urged her to run but Muteteri refused. “I told her I did not want people who knew me to find and kill me.” By morning, her sister had been killed as she tried to escape. The attackers returned, searching for any survivors. Muteteri remained still among the bodies, surviving another day and night. It was not until April 13, when RPA Inkotanyi forces arrived, that she was rescued. They found survivors, provided assistance to the wounded, and led them to safety. ALSO READ: From memory to prevention: What the world must learn from Rwanda Nyanza Genocide Memorial stands at the site where many of the Tutsi civilians were killed. Speaking during the commemoration event at the memorial, the President of Ibuka, Philbert Gakwenzire, said the UNAMIR forces had the capacity to prevent the killings but chose not to act. “The Belgian forces had the necessary equipment, they were in good numbers, and they had the capacity to stop the government from committing genocide. They left the Tutsi knowing very well that they would be killed,” Gakwenzire said. He added that the forces had prior information about the plans of the Habyarimana regime and ignoed it. “They had enough information about the genocidal plan, they shared intelligence reports with the government forces, but they deliberately chose to turn their back on the Tutsi who had fled to them for protection,” he said. Gakwenzire urged mourners to reflect on the lessons of history, cautioning against division and inaction in the face of violence. “The greatest lesson from this is to be cautious of what we are doing all the time, to act with values. The history we are writing today will return against us or our children, and the good history will also prevail on our way.”
