Senate President François-Xavier Kalinda has called upon members of the FDLR and perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi currently in DR Congo to return to Rwanda, emphasized that the country’s safety and development cannot be threatened. Kalinda made the call, on Thursday, April 30, during a commemoration event at Commune Rouge Genocide Memorial in Rubavu District, honoring Genocide victims killed in the former Gisenyi town. Two remains of the victims exhumed in Rubavu Sector were given a decent burial. ALSO READ: Ibuka raises concerns about genocide ideology in Nyabihu Kalinda commended Rwandans who have already returned home and urged them to encourage those still living in the neighboring to follow suit. “Our greatest wish is for everyone to return home—even members of the FDLR—return in the country,” he stated. “Whoever committed crimes of genocide, they will face justice; for those who did not, they will continue their lives. And those who complete their punishment will be reintegrated back into the Rwandan community.” He recommended the repatriation not only of Rwandans who are currently in eastern DR Congo but also those residing in other countries. “We ask those willing to uphold the truth of our history to encourage Rwandans abroad to return home,” Kalinda added, urging residents of Western Province to reject genocide ideology currently persisting across the border. Annoncée Manirarora, a commissioner for the Genocide survivors' organisations Ibuka, raised concerns regarding persistent cases of genocide denial reported during the commemoration week, noting that these incidents involve adults as well as the youth. “Those cases involve 'double genocide' theories and other forms of genocide denial,” Manirarora stated, noting that eight cases were recorded in Rubavu District, involving youth between the ages of 20 and 21. ALSO READ: Nearly 8,000 Rwandans returned from DR Congo since 2025 Cyprien Habinshuti, a Genocide survivor from Byahi Cell in Rubavu town, expressed his gratitude to the RPA forces who stopped the Genocide and rescued the Tutsi who were being hunted. “We are thankful to the RPA fighters who saved us and stopped the mass killings in 1994,” said Habinshuti who recalled the dehumanization he faced as a child when he was called a snake in primary school. “They smashed my brother’s head with a heavy stone that required four people to lift. His body was dumped in a pit latrine, and it is an image that shocked me deeply—one I will never forget.”
