Remains of more than 200 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are set to be accorded decent burial Thursday following a week of exhumation from a previously unknown mass grave in a Kigali city suburb. The remains, which were retrieved from a mass grave in Rwezamenyo Sector, Nyarugenge District, will be interred at Nyanza Memorial Site in Kicukiro District later today. The discovery has alarmed the public since the mass grave was found in the middle of a heavily populated suburb. The exhumation followed a search led by survivors prompted by a tip-off from someone who lives in Belgium and is one of the people who survived the killings at the spot. It is believed that the victims were killed after they were subdued by the militia – having initially tried to put up resistance – and then thrown into a mass grave. Jean de Dieu Serugendo, the public relations and media officer for Nyarugenge District, said it was unfortunate that many victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi remain unaccounted for, 25 years later. He urged members of the public to volunteer information that may lead to similar finds and exhumations. The Government and survivors have underlined the importance of retrieving the remains of Genocide victims from places they were dumped, and given decent burial. Nyanza memorial is home to more than 96,000 Genocide victims, most of whom were interred there this year after they were exhumed from mass graves in the Kabuga neighbourhood in Kicukiro District. More than a million people were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
