Three mass graves of victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi were Saturday discovered In Rubavu District, 24 years after the tragedy. One of the graves was accidentally discovered last week in Kanzenze sector in a pit latrine that was being emptied. It contained eight bodies. According to the Executive Secretary of Kanzenze Sector, Monique Nyiransengiyumva, the plot of land had been recently acquired by Jean Baptiste Hakomeyimana. He had recently bought the property from one, Boniface Bizimana, who is now in police custody. “The bodies were found on Saturday at around 10 am when workers were cleaning up a latrine and discovered the bodies dumped in. They alerted the owner as well as local officials,” Nyirasengiyumva explained. The discovery led to further search where two more mass graves were discovered. One is being excavated while another remained intact as residents waited, at the time of going to press, was for explosives experts to neutralise two grenades that had been rigged on the site. “The works to dig the second grave were halted because it was suspected that more war materials could be present,” she said. According to Innocent Kabirizi, the president of the umbrella organisation of Genocide survivors, Ibuka, in Kanzenze sector, it was difficult to estimate the number of victims expected to be exhumed from the graves, though, according to information available, many people were dumped in the area. The Spokesperson of Rwanda Investigation Bureau, Modeste Mbabazi, told The New Times that Bizimana had been accused of playing a role in the Genocide but had been acquitted by a Gacaca court for lack of evidence. “During Gacaca, the suspect had been accused of killing people but there were no verifiable facts and he was declared innocent. He was instead ordered to pay reparations for people’s looted or destroyed property,” said Mbabazi. “The people he was accused of killing are some of the victims found in his latrine”. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
