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Official: Uganda to Rebury Rwanda Genocide Victims
KAMPALA, Uganda - The bodies of nearly 11,000 Rwandan genocide victims that floated more than 100 miles downriver and were placed in makeshift graves in Uganda will receive proper reburial, Rwanda's ambassador said Sunday.
Map and chronology of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwanda has chosen a symbolic location to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi minority and highlight "the bankruptcy of humanity" during the 1994 massacres.
(afp.com/Afp/Graphic/File) The bodies will be exhumed from the shores of Lake Victoria and reburied in three permanent mass graves, Ambassador Ignatius Kamali said on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide.
"We have decided to accord a decent burial to those genocide victims," he said. "We want the exercise done within 100 days from today."
Kamali did not say how much the process would cost but said that Rwanda would foot the bill. Tom Lutu, an official in Rakai district, told The Associated Press that the Rwandan government bought the land where the bodies will be buried.
Kamali did not say why the bodies would remain in Uganda instead of returning to Rwanda, but touted the initiative as an attempt to improve the relationship between the two neighbors.
A plan to do the rebury the bodies two years ago in Uganda was marred by land issues and the resistance of some local leaders. Kamali said both issues had since been settled.
Ugandan officials welcomed the plan.
"We are good neighbors and they are also members of the east African community," said Ugandan Minister of State for Ethics Nsaba Buturo. "We agreed with them that those bodies need a decent burial. We gave them the go-ahead."
The Rwandan genocide began on April 6, 1994, after a plane carrying the central African nation's president _ a member of the Hutu ethnic majority _ was shot down. Hutu extremists had been planning an attack on minority Tutsis as well as moderate Hutus, and the slaughter began the next day.
In a span of about three months, an estimated 800,000 people were killed _ many hacked to death with machetes and hoes. Women were systematically raped and tortured, their limbs chopped off. In some cases, pregnant women died as their fetuses were ripped from their wombs.
Many bodies had been thrown into Rwanda's Nyabarongo River, which feeds into the Kagera River and which dumps into the large Lake Victoria. The bodies floated down the river for two or three days before reaching Uganda, said Ugandans who witnessed the bodies' arrival. During that time, many Ugandans swore off eating fish, out of fear that the fish in Lake Victoria were feeding on the bodies.
In 1994, Ugandan villagers buried the bodies along the shores of Lake Victoria in a tranche of six large makeshift mass graves and numerous smaller graves. Some of the graves were made of concrete; others were shallow and covered only by shrubbery.
6 Comments so far
Show AllThere wasn't any Genocide here, that only happens in Gaza. Real Genocide like thios is sickening. Where was the UN here?
Doing the same thing they do in Gaza, sitting safely with their thumbs up their asses while people are brutalized elsewhere.
The UN was blocked from receiving more aid by the United States of America The United Kingdom and France who refused to recognize the genocide and who pressured the member nations of the UN not to send troops.
The paltry number of UN troops in place at the time saved thousands of lives but did not have the manpower or resources to do more.
France has also been accused of actively aiding the persons resposible for the genocide by suppling them with arms.
In short the failing of the UN to act was due to the PERMANENT members of the Security council, namely the United States, The United Kingdom and France.
There were UN forces on the ground in small numbers . These were poorly equipped by saved tens of thousands of lives in safe zones that Dallaire assigned them to protect.
Prior to the genocide Dalliare had received all manner of Intel which suggested it would happen and implored more troops be sent. He also asked the United States to use its technology to block radio broadcasts being made in Rwanda which were encouraging the Genocide. He was refused on all counts.
Indeed at the Security Councils insistence the UN started to PULL troops from Rwanda rather then reinforce.
So to sum up.
It was the permanent mebers of the Security council that failed to act and indeed actively BLOCKED troops from being sent.
The security council as structured, with its veto powers and 5 permament members is NON FUNCTIONAL. The UK , France and the United States had no strategic interests in Rwanda thus actively tried to block aid military and otherwise from being sent to Rwanda.
In the aftermath Dallaire pointed out that had he 6000 more troops he probably could have saved hundreds of thousands more. This is the same number of troops sent in seperately to rescue foreign nationals. These same troops were then pulled out once all the "white people" were safe.
Was it at all possible to head off that genocide had the UN acted on its mandate?
Yes and absolutely.
It does not mean the Idea of the UN or its prescence thus useless. It means it in need of serious reform and especially at the level of its security council.
The 5 permanent members do not DESERVE that privelege.
In 1982, approximately 40,000 Tutsi refugees came across the border from southern Uganda. The Hutu majority government reluctantly provided land for two camps in northern Rwanda.
Camps were run by the red Cross, Catholic relief services, Oxfam and Doctors without Borders. Several university students volunteered to help the refugees and provided invaluable service. These students were Tutsi.
In the spring of 1983, several of these yound women were arrested for espionage since they were observed talking and working with the Europeans in the camps. They were thrown into the kigali prison and were repeatedly gangraped in the courtyard in full view of all prisoners and warders,
The US, to its credit, stopped all aid to Rwanda. They were joined by Belgium and other European countries. The women were released to Kenya as refugees.
As early as 1982, the US was aware of the potential of genocide. Numerous reports on this possibility were filed by political offiers/CIA at the embassy.
Equally horrible stories emerged from Burundi where the Tutsi mistreated the Hutu. Anyone who had been in either country for more than an hour knew the potential for genocide.
Quite honestly, the US and the UN turned their backs. Bill Clinton did not give a shit about Rwand or Burundi. 600,000 Africans murdered...no big deal.
This is no diferent than Darfur and the on-going "horror" in the Congo. We do not give a shit ... The US continues to reward African governments with the worst human rights records.
It's nice that Obama traces roots from Kenya.. Perhaps he should get off his ass and learn the reality of his Kenyan homeland. What about the hundreds of thousands of refugees along the Northern Border ??
In a letter addressed to church leaders, civil authorities, and the population of Rwanda, Pope John Paul II tried to absolve the Roman Catholic Church from responsibility for the genocide there in 1994. “The church in itself cannot be held responsible for the misdeeds of its members who have acted against evangelical law,” he claimed. However, the pope also stated: “All the members of the church who have sinned during the genocide must have the courage to bear the consequences of the deeds that they have committed.” This is apparently the first time the pope has publicly addressed the charge that priests in Rwanda participated in and actively encouraged the slaughter that took the lives of some 500,000 people and the charge that the Catholic hierarchy took no action to stop it. Vatican commentator Luigi Accattoli, writing in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, said that the pope’s statement for Catholics not to try to escape justice “touches a sensitive spot,” in that “among those accused of genocide, there are also priests who have taken refuge abroad.” Most of the people in Rwanda are Catholic. (source Awake! Magazine Feb 8, 1997)
In a predominantly catholic country, the Catholic Church should have had major influence on events leading up to the genocide.
The vatican consistently sent second tier and second rate representatives to serve as their papal nuncios. While Africa is one of the few bright spots for the church, Rome has little understanding of the issues (and potential)of Africa
On the bright side, Africa does not need Rome.