Preparations are underway to expand Musanze Genocide Memorial, formerly the Court of Appeal of Ruhengeri, officials have confirmed. The project includes acquiring more land, including a plot owned by the local Catholic Church. ALSO READ: Senate president urges FDLR, genocide perpetrators to return home “Negotiations with the Catholic Church have been completed, although they took longer than expected. The plot where the memorial will be expanded belongs to the church,” Maurice Mugabowagahunde, Governor of Northern Province, told The New Times. According to him, the expansion is part of a broader initiative to renovate three memorial sites across Musanze District. “The addition of a memorial garden is part of wider efforts to upgrade three genocide memorials in Musanze District, but we will begin with the Court of Appeal site,” he added. The Genocide survivors' organisation Ibuka has welcomed the initiative of the expansion. “We plan to increase the memorial’s surface area to more than one hectare,” said Festus Rusisiro, a representative of Ibuka. “It has been a challenge for survivors whose loved ones are laid to rest at the former Court of Appeal. The limited space hinders commemoration activities.” ALSO READ: Genocide survivors urge efforts to find missing remains of loved ones in Rutsiro According to Musanze District authorities, the expanded memorial will cover 4.5 hectares. Officials have assured that the required budget will be estimated once a detailed study—guiding the overall design and scope of the expansion, including the memorial garden—is completed. During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the Court of Appeal building in the former Ruhengeri Prefecture (now Musanze District) became a site of a massacre. Local authorities report that more than 800 Tutsi, who had sought refuge there believing it to be a place of safety and justice, were killed inside and around the courthouse. “It is a sign of failed justice,” said the governor. “The killing of people inside a court building is extremely rare and represents a grave collapse of justice. Such an act is almost unheard of anywhere else in the world.”
