In 1994 the ongoing conflict between the Hutus end the Tutsis erupted on an incomprehensible scale. More than 800,000 Rwandese were killed in just 3 months mostly by gangs and youths armed with machetes, guns and other weapons.
During the genocide, many horrific massacres around the country took place in churches to which victims fled in the hope of refuge.
Nyatama – Catholic Church about 30kms south of Kigali.
The church has not been touched since the bodies have been removed more than a decade ago.
A guide showed us around and gave us a brief story as to the events. Here we are outside where some of the victims that could be identified are buried.
More than 10,000 Tutsis took refuge inside the church. The locked themselves but the gate was blown open with a hand grenade.
Holes in the church roof.
Skulls of some of the victims on display as you enter.
More remains.
Evidence of some of the horrific deaths.
This is the remains of a beautiful Tutsi girl who was raped by 50 men and then killed by thrusting a long sharp stone up into her.
More remains on display.
The blood stained clothes of all the victims have been stacked on the church benches.
The main section of the church. There were too many to be killed with traditional weapons so they hurled hand grenades into the crowd.
All the children were gathered into the back section of the church. There they chopped off their hands and legs and then sent them to go and find their parents, if they were still alive and show them what they look like.
Outside are 2 tombs where all the remains of the 10,000 people that were killed are kept. Before going into the tombs, we observed a minute of silence as respect.
Some of the remains that could be identified are in coffins.
The rest are just stacked in rows upon rows.
Evidence of some of the brutal deaths.
More skulls and bones.
Tonia Locatelli
Ntarama Genocide Memorial about 25kms outside Kigali
Not on such a grand scale as Nyatama but not less impressive.
Here also about 5,000 Tutsis took refuge in the Catholic Church. Some evidence as the walls were blown open with hand grenades.
Skulls on display showing what horrific deaths they must have had.
More skulls and bones on display.
More bones.
Skulls and bones. Thousands upon thousands on display.
Some personal effects.
The Sunday school section where all the kids were killed. Blood stains still visible on the back wall as they were thrown against the walls.
The kitchen where more people were killed.
The victims in the kitchen were burnt alive. It has been left untouched since the Genocide. Our guide is on the left.
The Holy Section where the priests were also blown open. They were also not spared.
All in all it was a very sad day but interesting day.
Rwanda has done a remarkable job of getting back onto its feet. It has achieved an impressive degree of stability and security in a very short time, albeit with considerable help from a guilty international community that ignored the country in its darkest hour.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was established in Arusha, Tanzania, in 1994 to bring to justice former government and military officials for the acts of genocide.
Several big fish have been sentenced and the prisons are still overflowing with smaller fish.
We are now off to Parc National des Volcans to do some gorilla tracking. Another $1,000….