{"id":53769,"date":"2025-04-08T07:46:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T07:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/kayonza-remains-of-over-10-000-genocide-victims-still-missing\/"},"modified":"2025-04-08T07:45:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T07:45:59","slug":"kayonza-remains-of-over-10-000-genocide-victims-still-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/kayonza-remains-of-over-10-000-genocide-victims-still-missing\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayonza: Remains of over 10,000 Genocide victims still missing"},"content":{"rendered":"

This was disclosed on April 7, 2025, during the launch of the national mourning week and the 100-day commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the Genocide against the Tutsi, an event held at the Mukarange Genocide Memorial.<\/p>\n

Ndindabahizi called upon anyone who might know the locations of the missing remains to come forward and help ensure they are laid to rest with dignity. He emphasized how important this would be for families who still have no closure.<\/p>\n

He explained that the former communes of Rukara, Kayonza, Kabarondo, Muhazi, Kigarama, and part of Rukira were merged into what is now Kayonza District, which was home to over 50,000 Tutsis before the Genocide.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, when you count the survivors and those who died from other illness afterward, the number doesn\u2019t exceed 10,000. This means that about 40,000 Tutsis were killed in less than 14 days, since after that the area had already been liberated by the RPF-Inkotanyi,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Ndindabahizi added that only fewer than 30,000 bodies have been buried in the four genocide memorials across the district, \u201cWhich means that over 10,000 bodies are still missing. This is a unique challenge we face here.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that some victims died while trying to flee through Akagera national park towards Tanzania. Others were devoured by wild animals, some were killed in forests by hunters, and others drowned while attempting to cross the Akagera River.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people are among the many who are considered completely missing. Some victims were killed in pit latrines, thrown into ditches, and others into rivers, streams, particularly into Lake Ruramira,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn partnership with the district, we managed to retrieve a few from the lake, at great effort and buried them. For the rest, we have buried them in our hearts,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n

Ndindabahizi noted that some individuals still know the locations of these remains but are refusing to come forward. \u201cWe urge the government and citizens to help us so these remains can be buried respectfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t do it with violence or threats, but we will continue to speak up and ask questions wherever and whenever necessary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Executive Secretary of the Eastern Province, Dr. Jeanne Nyirahabimana, thanked the RPF-Inkotanyi for halting the Genocide and continuing to build a united, discrimination free country.<\/p>\n

She urged everyone with information about the location of remains to come forward and warned against flirting with genocide ideology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must not sit idly when we hear speech laced with genocide ideology. No one \u2018plays\u2019 or \u2018jokes\u2019 with genocide ideology. No one \u2018discusses\u2019 genocide ideology, it must be denounced wherever it is found, and those responsible must be held accountable,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n

Jean Baptiste Rutayisire, a genocide survivor who hid in Mukarange Church, gave an account of how Interahamwe and government soldiers killed many people there.<\/p>\n

He thanked the Inkotanyi who saved him after finding him with a deep machete wound on his head and a spear injury to his chest, and still nursed him back to life.<\/p>\n

Mukarange Genocide Memorial is home over 9,300 victims, most of whom were Tutsis who had sought refuge in the church but were attacked by the Interahamwe militia in collaboration with soldiers of the former government forces.<\/p>\n

\"Several<\/figure>\n
\"The<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The President of IBUKA in Kayonza District, Didace Ndindabahizi, has revealed that over 10,000 bodies of Tutsis killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in this district are yet to be found and given a dignified burial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000085191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000085191,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-533.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-533.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-533.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-533.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-533.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-533.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000085191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53769"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53769"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}