- Rwanda commemorates ninth genocide anniversary - 08.04.2003
On April 7, 1994, what is known as the Rwanda Genocide was started. In just 100 days, more than one million people were killed with rudimentary implements.
Although some people have argued that the 1994 Rwanda Genocide was sparked off by the death of President Juvenale Habyarimana on April 6, 1994, there seems to be ample evidence that the genocide had been planned even before his death. There is evidence to that effect. The purpose was to wipe out the Tutsi.
Some Hutus who found fault with the project were also killed. In December 1997, the late Lt. Col. Wilson Shaban Rutayisire of the Rwanda Patriotic Army (now Rwanda Defence Forces) and I visited a genocide memorial site at Mwurire Village some 30km from Kigali City.
At the site, there were stacks and stacks of bones stashed in a makeshift shelter. After the visit to Mwurire sites, it became clear that the United Nations estimated figure of about 800,000 people killed during the genocide was too conservative to represent the magnitude of the genocide. Today, April 7, is the ninth Genocide Memorial Day in Rwanda. However, what makes this ninth Memorial Day special is that, for the first time, the commemoration is taking place on Ugandan soil.
There are four genocide sites in the districts of Mpigi, Kalangala, Rakai, and Masaka. Commenting on the Commemoration ceremonies in Uganda, Mr. Gerald Mbanda, the
First Secretary at the Rwandan Embassy in Uganda had this to say, It should be remembered that at the height of the genocide, dead bodies of the genocide victims which were thrown into River Akagera ended up in Lake Victoria. These people were buried here in Uganda, so it is not surprising that we commemorate the ninth Memorial Day in Uganda. The commemoration will begin today at 5.30 pm with a solemn procession (walk with candles) from the Constitutional Square to the National Theatre where a documentary entitled The Triumph of Evil will start showing at 6.30 pm. At 10.30 am on April 12, there will also be a requiem service at Misozi Village in Kyebe Sub-County, Rakai District followed by the dedication of the Genocide memorial monument, eulogies and the award of certificates to volunteers who worked very hard to recover the dead bodies from Akagera River and Lake Victoria.
Mr. Manuel Pinto, the former MP for Kakuto County in Rakai district is the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Genocide Commemoration in Uganda.
He told The New Vision that Misozi Village was chosen because of its
significance. It is the first and biggest genocide site in Uganda. You know we used to trap dead bodies from Lake Victoria and the bodies which escaped us are those which went to other places like Mpigi, Masaka and Kalangala. So, Misozi is significant for this memorial, he said.
In Kampala, the Guest of Honour will be Capt. Mike Mukula, the Minister of State for Health while in Misozi it will Mr. Eriya Kategaya, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs. On assuming power in July 1994, the RPF-led government of national unity made it clear that it would apprehend and bring to justice the perpetrators of the genocide. Thousands and thousands are in custody awaiting trial, while some have already faced justice.
The suspects have been classified into four categories for prosecution. There are persons whose criminal acts or whose acts of criminal participation place them among the planners, organisers, instigators, supervisors and leaders of the genocide. Then there are those whose criminal acts or whose acts of criminal participation place them among the perpetrators, conspirators or accomplices.
The third category consists of persons whose criminal acts or whose acts of criminal participation make them guilty of other serious assaults against the victims while the last category is that of persons who committed offenses by destroying or stealing property.
The inadequate number of personnel compounds the situation. Were Rwanda to rely on its conventional judicial system to try the suspects, it would take over 200 years to clear all the cases. There are about 100,000 suspects in jail in Rwanda.
The government of Rwanda introduced a communal judicial system called Gacaca with court-like tribunals. The Gacaca tribunals are based on African traditional judicial system which has an element of reconciliation embedded in the trial and sentencing process.
However, in spite of the introduction of the Gacaca system the government of Rwanda is still committed to the development of a formal judicial system.
There are still many tasks which the government of Rwanda has to find answers to and they are not easy ones.
