By Dr BIZIMANA Jean Damascène*
The last dates of May 1994 were marked by the efforts of RPF-INKOTANYI forces who did their utmost to accelerate the cessation of the Genocide against the Tutsi. On the other hand, the criminal government also made efforts to expedite the massacre of Tutsi who were still hiding in the regions that the RPF-INKOTANYI army had not yet liberated especially in the south of the country. Many Tutsi were killed at Kabgayi. They were taken outside the church and its surrounding houses by Interahamwe and taken to Nyabarongo where they were killed and some were thrown alive in Nyabarongo.
1) MASSACRE OF MORE THAN 500 TUTSI WHO HAD TAKEN REFUGE IN THE HOUSES OF CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KABGAYI
As the criminal government forces, Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi were losing the battle and the genocide was progressively being stopped by the RPF-INKOTANYI forces, many of the killers fled Kigali and killed any Tutsi that they met on the way. This is what happened to the Tutsi who had not yet been killed in Kabgayi.
By the end of May 1994 between 28 and 30, the Interahamwe took more than five hundred (500) Tutsi, some were trying to flee to Kabgayi and others were taken among Tutsi refugees who were camping in various houses of the Catholic Church in Kabgayi and killed them.
UNAMIR was the first to release the information on May 31, 1994, when one of its leaders, Dr. Abdul Kadia, who was the Second-in-command to General Dallaire told the media that more than 500 people had been killed by government forces in Gitarama, including many who were taken from Kabgayi. Dr Kadia said that UNAMIR was going to investigate the killings.
Various international radio stations reported the killings, including RFI in its May 31, 1994 news report. The German radio station, Deutsche Welle, confirmed the information in its broadcast of May 31, 1994 and said that UNAMIR had sent its envoys to Kabgayi to investigate the killings. The news was also confirmed by BBC Radio.
The testimony of survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Kabgayi explains that at several times in 1994, after the arrival of Tutsi refugees in Kabgayi, the Interahamwe of MRND, the Impuzamugambi of CDR and other Hutu members of the Hutu Power Parties gradually came and took Tutsi by force to go and kill them. Many of them were killed at Nyabarongo and thrown into water. Many of the girls and women were thrown in Nyabarongo alive and others were raped before being killed. The RPF-INKOTANYI forces liberated Kabgayi on June 02, 1994.
2) RPF-INKOTANYI ARMY CONSTANTLY LIBERATED PARTS OF KIGALI CITY AND THE CRIMINAL GOVERNMENT FLED TO KIBUYE
On May 26, 1994, the RPF-INKOTANYI forces completely captured parts of Kigali City namely Kicukiro and Gatenga and rescued some Tutsi and other citizens who were incarcerated by the killers. Gatenga was ravaged by many Interahamwe led by TWAHIRWA Seraphin the former employee of the Ministry of Public Service (MINITRAPE), currently hiding in Belgium. Soldiers of the criminal government and its Interahamwe started to flee from the City of Kigali and heading for Gitarama and Ruhengeri.
On May 27, 1994, the UNAMIR started to evacuate people who were hiding in Hotel des Mille Collines to their desired destinations. Some wanted to go to the territory that was still under the control of the criminal government, while others wanted to go to the territory that had been liberated by the RPF-INKOTANYI.
The RPF-INKOTANYI forces persistently demanded that government soldiers should lay down their arms and stop the killings, and work together to repair the damage and rebuild the country, but in vain. On this date, more than half of Rwanda had been liberated by the RPF-INKOTANYI forces. Also on the same day, UNAMIR announced that in the near future, the RPF-INKOTANYI forces will have taken control of the entire City of Kigali.
On May 28, 1994, Radio France International (RFI) reported that members of the criminal government had left Gitarama and fled to Kibuye. The RFI correspondent Monique Mass, who was in Rwanda went to Nyamata and reported that more than half of the population of Nyamata town before the genocide had been exterminated by Interahamwe militias and government forces.
This was also confirmed by a Belgian Professor Alain Verhaegen in an interview with RFI in Brussels after he had left Rwanda where he worked with the organization of Doctors Without Borders Belgium (MSF).
On the same day, Ambassador Amuri SUED, who was among refugees evacuated from Hotel des Mille Collines by UNAMIR and chose to join the RPF-INKOTANYI, also reported to RFI the seriousness of the genocide against the Tutsi, perpetrated by the criminal government and the Interahamwe. He further commended that the RPF-INKOTANYI battle to stop the Genocide should be supported by the whole world.
3) SOME FOREIGNERS CLEARLY CONFIRMED THAT THE KILLING OF TUTSI IN RWANDA WAS A GOVERNMENT PLAN, BUT THE CRIMINAL GOVERNMENT CONTINUED TO DENY IT
Since May 22, 1994, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights had convened a meeting to analyse the nature of the killings against the Tutsi in Rwanda. They also announced that the perpetrators of the killings in Rwanda could be brought to justice. During the meeting, Bishop Desmund Tutu, a South African, spoke out against the genocide in Rwanda and called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted.
Stanislas Mbonampeka, the former second vice president of P.L. Power, one of the envoys sent to the meeting by the criminal government condemned the statement by Desmund Tutu and falsely said that no killings were being carried out by the government he represented, that the RPF should be held accountable for the killings. Mbonampeka was aware that the massacres of Tutsi in Gitarama, Kibuye and elsewhere at that time were not taking place in the RPF-INKOTANYI-controlled areas. He said that in order to confuse people and acquit the government he represented. Before returning to Rwanda after the Geneva meeting, Mbonampeka went to Paris.
On May 24, 1994, Radio France International (RFI) reported that Amnesty International had condemned the killings by the Rwandan government and the criminal government.
On May 25, 1994, the UN envoy, Iqbar Riza, who was on a visit to Rwanda, met with representatives of the Rwandan government, but no decision regarding the cessation of the genocide was taken. Iqbar Riza met them in their hideout in Gitarama where they were camping.
CONCLUSION
The genocide against the Tutsi is a heinous act of the so-called government of saviours. The genocide continued while the United Nations was still discussing on the name of the massacre to be approved, but did not have the courage to take action to stop the massacre of Tutsi. (End).
* Dr BIZIMANA Jean Damascène, Executive Secretary National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG)