The Land of A Thousand Hills

The Land of A Thousand Hills
A Landscape of Rwanda

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Ntarama and Nyamata

On May 26, 2014 we visited two genocide memorials in the Bugesera district: Ntarama and Nyamata. These memorials lay just outside of Kigali and were only a short drive from our hotel. Kelly has been writing descriptions for each memorial that we visit, so we will post the story of each memorial that we visit. Below are the stories for Ntarama and Nyamata.

Urwibutso Rwa Ntarama (Ntarama Memorial):

     The small town of Ntarama lays in the district of Bugesera, just outside of Kigali. When driving through this quaint area, one would not suspect that more than 5,000 people were killed. As we arrived at the gates of the Ntarama church, Bellancilla Uwitonze greeted us and began to lead us through the memorial as she narrated the atrocities that had occurred in the area.  In 1992, Habyarimana’s government used the interahamwe to practice efficient killing methods for the genocide. In the Bugesera district, Tutsis fled to the churches to seek refuge from their hunters. During this “practice massacre”, the only people who survived were those who had fled to the churches. 
In 1994, Tutsis fled to the churches expecting the same protection that they had received in the previous years. However, this time the interahamwe and other radical Hutu groups had been instructed to use churches as a way to concentrate their victims. Because the Tutsis had previously been protected by the churches, there was no forceful concentration of victims in Ntarama; they were already there. Within the compound, there are 4 buildings; three small houses and one larger church. Because so many people were trying to hide, all four buildings were used for refuge. 
     On April 15, 1994, the killers surrounded the church compound in Ntarama. Initially, grenades and guns were used to carry out the killings, while machetes were used to kill those who had survived the initial attacks. In the first house, students were shot to death. In the next house, people were trapped inside and set on fire before having one wall of the house knocked down on top of their bodies. In the third house, children had hidden where they had previously attended Sunday School. The killers murdered the children by swinging them from their ankles and bashing their heads against the wall. The blood stain still marks the area that children were killed in. 
     After the genocide, Ntarama was transformed into a memorial. In the church, you can see the bones of some of the people who were killed, the clothes and belongings of those victims, an identity card, and some of the weapons used by the killers. At the alter, a cloth has the words “Iyo umenya nawe ukimenya ntuba waranyishe”, meaning “If you knew me and you know yourself you would not kill me”. In addition, the compound has an area for meditation and counseling, as well as a wall with the names of some of the victims who died at Ntarama. Between this area and the main gate stands a protected flame that represents the remembrance of those who died in the Bugesera District during the genocide. The sides of the box that surround this flame are labelled with two strong messages: “urumuri rw’icyizere” (flame of hope) and “urumuri rutazima” (flame always).  

     This memorial is a constant reminder of the atrocities that took place in Ntarama during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. As a student who has spent three years learning about Rwandan culture and history, I find that the most difficult part of travelling to the various memorials is knowing that people who have lost everything can rebuild and move forward, while people in other parts of the world cannot resolve their petty disputes. How can a person, or even a culture, who has experienced genocide even begin to forgive so openly? This is a question that constantly sticks to the back of my mind as we discuss reconciliation and peacebuilding. It is truly amazing that Rwanda has come so far in a mere twenty years. 

Urwibutso Rwa Nyamata (Nyamata Memorial):

     The Nyamata memorial is just a short distance from the memorial in Ntarama. Similar to the neighboring memorial site, the massacres at Nyamata occurred in and around a church. Leading us through this memorial was Leon Muberuka. The high concentration of individuals who hid inside of the church was due to the safety that they had found during the 1992 massacres within churches. During this “rehearsal genocide”, Italian missionary Tonia Lacatelli was killed for protecting the Tutsis who had sought refuge within the church.
     On April 15, 1994 more than 10,000 people were killed in the Nyamata Church. When the genocidaires arrived at the church, they used grenades to blast through the locked gates, and guns to shoot through the windows of the church. Once inside the church, the killers used a red, metal cross to beat people to death, as well as machetes to cut their victims. As with other instances of massacres, rape was used as a tool of war to humiliate women and infect them with HIV/AIDS.
    After the genocide, the Rwandan government decided to dedicate this site as a memorial for the victims who were killed in Nyamata. Within the church, a lower level was constructed to display some of the victims’ bones and the coffin where a young woman’s body rests. During the massacres, Mukanaoli Annonciata, 26, was raped by 15 men before she was killed. After her death, the men drove a spear through her vagina and up through her skull to display what they had done. She rests within a coffin, the spear still through her body, to represent all of the women who suffered the way that she did. In a garden behind the church, there are four mass graves which house the remains of approximately 45,000 victims from Nyamata and the surrounding areas.

    The memorial at Nyamata reminds us of those who suffered there. In this church, entire families were killed. The only things that we have to prove they existed are their bones, clothes, and some personal belongings. It is in places like this where genocide denial is combated. Without these memorials, the families who have been lost might be forgotten.

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