Remains of more than 900 Genocide victims have been discovered at around Mibilizi Catholic Church parish, the Mayor of Rusizi district, Anicet Kibiriga, has told The New Times. “The exhuming activity continues. And, so far, we have discovered 930 genocide remains in total,” he said. ALSO READ: Remains of Genocide victims discovered around Mibilizi Catholic Church parish. The number is an increase from 588 remains that had been found as of April 27. The first remains were discovered at the end of March when residents were working to construct terraces across 16 hectares in the Gashonga sector. Testimonies indicate that when widespread killings of the Tutsi started in April 1994, thousands of the Tutsi fleeing violence in their neighbourhoods took refuge at Mibilizi Catholic Church. They camped in and outside the church, spending their time praying and imploring God for protection. But just days after their arrival, attacks from Interahamwe militia who vowed to exterminate them started. ALSO READ: To survivors, Mibilizi massacre was a journey through hell. On April 18, 1994, a major attack was launched during which thousands of people were killed. The attack is said to have been coordinated by several local leaders working in close collaboration with gendarmes (equivalent to Police) and militia leaders. Today’s estimates indicate that those who perished at Mibilizi might be more than 10,000. More than 13,000 victims are buried at a memorial site that was constructed outside the church. The Mayor of Rusizi District in 2022 said that renovating the memorial site could cost Rwf700 million. “The newly exhumed genocide remains could be buried at Mibilizi genocide memorial,” Kibiriga said. Mibilizi genocide memorial is among five memorial sites to remain after consolidation in Rusizi district. He said that these include Nyarushishi, Mibilizi, Kamembe, Muganza and Nkanka memorial sites. ALSO READ: Kwibuka: Rwanda to consolidate Genocide memorials. Consolidation of some genocide memorials is part of implementing the Presidential Order of May 2019 determining modalities of consolidation of genocide memorial sites for the Genocide against the Tutsi. The move aims to preserve the memorial sites in a sustainable way. Recent figures show that there are 172 genocide memorial sites and 53 mass graves in the country. These figures imply that progress was made in reducing the number of genocide memorial sites because the census that was made in 2015 indicated that there were 234 genocide memorial sites and 115 graves.
