Recent discoveries of mass graves of Genocide victims points to the reluctance of some people to volunteer information about the existence of such remains in their neighbourhoods, the head of Ibuka, the Genocide survivors umbrella, has said. Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu was speaking to The New Times Wednesday two days after remains of eight survivors were recovered from a mass grave beneath the compound of Pentecostal ADEPR Church in Gahogo, Nyamabuye Sector in Muhanga District, Southern Province. Few days earlier, two mass graves had also been discovered in Rwezamenyo Sector in Nyamirambo in the capital Kigali and Cyanika in Burera District, Northern Province, each with remains of over 100 Genocide victims. “These cases show that we still have a problem,” said Dusingizemungu, who added that silence about the whereabouts of Genocide victims undermined unity and reconciliation efforts. He said that, in Cyanika, for instance, the remains were found in a farmland where people had been tilling land for a long time. In Muhanga, the remains were found by workers who were digging a hole for a septic tank. Pastor Landouard Munyankindi, the head of ADEPR Church Gahogo, said the church was constructed in 1996, two years after the Genocide against the Tutsi. He declined to offer more details. “We are disappointed and concerned about this issue,” Dusingizemungu said. He appealed to Rwandans with information about the whereabouts of the remains of Genocide survivors to come forward, adding that this would allow victims to be accorded decent burial. A year ago, Kigali residents were left stunned when dozens of mass graves were discovered at the heart of a heavily populated Kabuga neighbourhood in the capital Kigali containing tens of thousands of victims. Over a million people were killed the three-month slaughter. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
