- New mass graves are still being found in Rwanda, 30 years after the country’s genocide in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed.
- The remains of at least 1,000 people have been found in a farming community in the district of Huye.
- The head of a prominent genocide survivor’s group said the discoveries underscore that more needs to be done for true reconciliation.
The diggers’ hoes scrape the brown soil, looking for — and often finding — human bone fragments. The women then wipe the bone pieces with their hands as others watch in solemn silence.
The digging goes on, a scene that’s become all too familiar in a verdant area of rural southern Rwanda, where the discovery in October of human remains at the site of a house under construction triggered another search for new mass graves believed to hold victims of the 1994 genocide against Rwanda’s Tutsi.
In the months since, Rwandan authorities say the remains of at least 1,000 people have been found in this farming community in the district of Huye, a surprisingly high number after three decades of government efforts to give genocide victims dignified burials.
As Rwanda prepares to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the genocide next week, continuing discoveries of mass graves are a stark reminder not only of the country’s determination to reconcile with its grim past but also of the challenges it faces in aiming for lasting peace.
Speaking to The Associated Press, the head of a prominent genocide survivors’ group and several other Rwandans said the discoveries underscore that more needs to be done for true reconciliation.
Rwanda has made it a criminal offense to withhold information about a previously unknown mass grave. For years perpetrators of the 1994 genocide, including those who served prison terms and were later released, have been urged to speak up and say what they know.
Yet the mass graves are still mostly found by accident, leading to new arrests and traumatizing survivors all over again.
The October discovery led to the arrest of Jean Baptiste Hishamunda, 87, and four of his relatives.
After the remains of six people were discovered under his home, diggers started going through his entire property, finding dozens and then hundreds more remains as their search extended to other sites in Huye.
An estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed by extremist Hutu in massacres that lasted over 100 days in 1994. Some moderate Hutu who tried to protect members of the Tutsi minority also were targeted.
The genocide was ignited on April 6 when a plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana, a member of the majority Hutu, was shot down in the capital Kigali. The Tutsi were blamed for downing the plane and killing the president. Enraged, gangs of Hutu extremists began killing Tutsi, backed by the army and police.
Young people are less troubled by the past. Some Rwandans see this as a chance for reconciliation in a country where every other citizen is under the age of 30.
In the semi-rural area of Gahanga, just outside of Kigali, farmer Patrick Hakizimana says he sees a ray of hope in his children that someday Rwanda will have ethnic harmony.
A Hutu and an army corporal during the genocide, Hakizimana was imprisoned from 1996 to 2007 for his alleged role in the killings. He said he has learnt his lesson and is now trying to win the respect of others in his neighborhood.
“There are people who still have hatred against Tutsi,” he said. “The genocide was prepared for a long time.”
It will take a long time for people to leave that hatred behind, he said.
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