Remains of over 5,200 Rwandan genocide victims buried in the east

The remains of 5,269 victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi were appropriately buried this weekend at the Kiziguro genocide memorial in the eastern province of Rwanda.

The remains of the victims were discovered last year in a mass grave in the Kiziguro sector of the Gatsibo district in the east of the country.

“It is quite disturbing to note that many years after the genocide, we are still recovering the remains of the victims of the genocide and giving them a decent burial,” lamented Jean-Damascene Bizimana, executive secretary of the National Commission of fight against genocide, during the burial ceremony.

Mr Bizimana blamed the perpetrators and accomplices of the genocide for hiding information on the locations of mass graves so far containing victims of the 1994 genocide, which killed nearly a million people according to the UN.

“People with information on mass graves must inform the local leaders of their respective communities so that the remains of all victims of the genocide are buried with dignity,” he insisted.

Local residents attended the burial ceremony, government officials and families of the victims. The governor of the eastern province, Emmanuel Gasana, denounced the reluctance of the perpetrators of the genocide to reveal information on the locations of the bodies of their victims.

“Giving a decent burial to the victims of the genocide facilitates the healing process for the survivors of the genocide,” said Mr Gasana.

According to the province, nearly 20,123 victims of the genocide against the Tutsi are buried at the Kiziguro Genocide Memorial.