Jean Claude Munyaneza was in primary school when killings started in Bigogwe during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. As Tutsi civilians fled for their life, the killers pursued them in the Gishwati forest, hunting them with dogs. “Dogs ate our people, our children, and our elders. We never recovered their bodies because they had been eaten by dogs,” he told mourners at a commemoration event held at Bigogwe Genocide Memorial on Thursday, May 15. ALSO READ: Western Province private sector commit to fight genocide ideology Munyaneza, who lives in Kanzenze Sector in Rubavu District, said violence against the Tutsi population in the area began as early as 1990, following the liberation war, with some Tutsi arrested at Bigogwe military barracks. “They were taken to the barracks, beaten and tortured, especially those from Mudende Sector,” he said, recalling how Tutsi students were punished differently from their colleagues and forced to “kneel on stones while lifting bricks.” The survivor, who narrowly escaped death and fled to DR Congo (then Zaire), expressed gratitude to the Rwanda Patriotic Army, the military wing of the RPF-Inkotanyi for stopping the Genocide and rebuilding the country. “We thank President Kagame, who was the leader of the Inkotanyi,” he said. “He urged us to forgive, and we did our job, although cases of genocide ideology still persist.” Gérard Mbarushimana, a representative of Ibuka, the organization of Genocide survivors, also reflected on the use of Bigogwe military barracks during the attacks. “The army even deployed a helicopter. Commandos who were conducting military exercises at ‘Ibere rya Bigogwe’ targeted Tutsi civilians,” he said, describing the brutality committed in the Bigogwe area as extreme. “We could not bury students who were dumped in Gishwati forest because dogs ate them,” he added. “Many Tutsi were hunted down by dogs, and we lost them.” During the event, the remains of four genocide victims were given a dignified burial at Bigogwe Genocide Memorial, where more than 9,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi are laid to rest. According to Jean Damascène Bizimana, the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, the military launched the attacks in Gishwati claiming they were chasing down Inkotanyi fighters who had allegedly attacked the Bigogwe military barracks. Bizimana, however, condemned the regimes of former Presidents Grégoire Kayibanda and Juvénal Habyarimana, accusing them of promoting divisive politics that ultimately led to the killing of more than one million Tutsi in 1994. He explained that Rwandans had lived together peacefully for centuries, with only minor conflicts and no ethnic-based killings. ALSO READ: Ibuka reports 3,000 Genocide suspects still at large in Karongi According to the minister, Kayibanda’s regime introduced divisive ideologies that were later continued by Habyarimana, eventually culminating in the Genocide against the Tutsi. “Habyarimana did not change anything; he continued Kayibanda’s politics of division and killings,” Bizimana noted. The minister also reflected on the post-Genocide reconstruction and socioeconomic transformation. He urged residents of Rubavu and Nyabihu districts to support national unity and reconciliation efforts through 'Ndi Umunyarwanda' programme.
