5.4 Techniques of data collection
5.4.4 Visit of the genocide memorials
Respondents were required visit the memorials before the interviews. Almost all respondents knew about genocide memorials because they had been there at least once. They knew that the architecture of this category of genocide memorials includes a house of memory. This is a building which consists of different rooms in which people‘s remains are displayed. In addition, there is a garden in which there are mass graves. The Nyamata genocide memorial is an illustration of such a place - the gallery of which is shown in Figure 1.
The visits were organized according to the focus groups. The visits were, however, organized differently with some groups according to the availability of respondents. As some respondents knew the local genocide memorials very well, they chose to visit memorials in other areas. This was acceptable. The visits were organized according to the visit schedule for every genocide
148 memorial. The areas visited were the compound, the house of memory and the interior (including different corners where remains are kept) and mass graves.
In the visiting process, the respondents who visited a local unsheltered mass grave, where remains were exposed, went through a longer application process than to others. The researcher used the presentation of genocide memorial images with all details possible. Tombs, houses of memory and exhibitions of human remains, were used in order to unlock the respondents‘
curiosity about other genocide memorials. This aided the discussion, especially for those groups that had a local memorial of mass graves only. This enriched their arguments in interpreting the message genocide memorials communicate and their impact on the community.
5.4.4.1 Nyamata genocide memorial
The Nyamata genocide memorial is located in Bugesera District, 35 km from Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. Bugesera remains one of the regions that were the most devastated by the genocide in 1994. The historical background of this area emphasizes the population‘s struggles.
In 1960, Tutsi people from different areas of Rwanda were forced to abandon their places of residence and migrate to Bugesera. This area was one of the Rwandan regions known for infertility, because access to water was difficult. The region was covered by a large forest, in which TseTse flies abounded. These flies transmitted sleeping sickness which killed many people who dwelled in the area. In this way, the region became an undesirable and lifeless place to live in. Official leaders forced the Tutsi to settle in the region, expecting them not to resist the harmful and tragic living conditions.
Unfortunately, some of them were killed by diseases while others resisted disease. As a result, Bugesera became a region in which the Tutsi social group was predominant. Some of the people who resisted the sleeping sickness finally managed to exploit the land. Fortunately, the natural soil of this region became productive and today it has impacted on Rwandan agricultural productivity. Due to lack of infrastructure, however, that productivity did not strongly affect the
149 people‘s welfare. The group discussion covered these events. Respondents described their isolation and found value in having a forum in which they could tell their painful story.
Figure 2: Gallery of the Nyamata genocide memorial
a. The house of memory, formerly a church building
Source : Fieldwork 2010
b. Remnants of clothes inside the house of memory and a tomb with coffins
Source: Fieldwork 2010
150 c. Relics of the human body exposed inside the house of memory
Figure 3: Inside a burial ground a. Mass graves
Source: Fieldwork 2010
151 b. The inside of a mass grave
Source: Fieldwork 2010
152 5.4.4.2 The Murambi genocide memorial
The Murambi genocide memorial is located in the Southern Province of Rwanda, in the Nyamagabe District, approximately 30 minutes from the Rwanda National Museum in Butare.
Murambi is known as a place that had a secondary school. It is close to the former town of Gikongoro and its main activities are cattle farming, crop production and small businesses facilitated by its proximity to the town of Gikongoro and a neighbouring school. In reality, its background does not have any particularity with the Rwandan struggles of tribal segregation.
During the genocide period, the Murambi pupils were not at school. Normally, this period coincided with the school holidays in Rwanda. Therefore, a large number of people went to the school, seeking protection from Nyamagabe authorities. This was because these authorities expressed the need to group individuals targeted by the Interahamwe and protect them. Some people were even escorted from their dwelling places to Murambi by the police. Following this, the place accommodated a high number of Tutsi; it is believed that more than 45,000 people were placed in the classrooms.
A few days after the operation the massacres started. The French army was deployed in three zones. These were defined as safe places which killers could not access and control easily.
Gikongoro was part of the ―zone turquoise‖, or the area where the French soldiers had their headquarters (Prunier 1999: 335; Adelman 1996: 54-57). The massacres were organized for 21 April 1994. At this time the Interahamwe militia and former Rwandan soldiers came and killed all the people who were assembled in different classrooms. The estimated number of the victims was 850.
Murambi is no longer a school. It now contains the human remains that are partly preserved inside different classrooms, waiting for the completion of the genocide memorials. A public
153 project is building genocide memorials that include a house of memory, where the human relics will be exhibited in different rooms. Murambi is both a killing field and place of memory.
5.4.4.3 The Kamonyi genocide memorial
The Kamonyi genocide memorial is located in the Kamonyi District, Southern Province. This is a place of memory and has been chosen as a strategic place in the Kamonyi District because of its accessibility. Despite the fact that it is a place chosen by the authority to be a district genocide memorial place, it does not have any particular history relating to the genocide. The victims‘
bodies buried at the Kamonyi genocide memorial were from different localities. This genocide memorial site includes a document house, in which various materials that were used in the genocide and other documents are gathered for research purposes.
The Kamonyi focus group regarded the atmosphere in the Kamonyi District as different from the other sites, because it is a place of memory and not a killing field. Even if it represents an important aspect of honouring the people who were massacred during the genocide, their sensitivity was limited to telling stories that are often related during the week of mourning and during the burial time for the people who were killed during the genocide, if their bodies are discovered. The District of Kamonyi has other genocide memorials that are at the same time killing fields and places of memory. The respondents stressed that there are specific emotions that are within killing fields, but which cannot be transferred to other places of memory.
5.4.4.4 The Bisesero memorial
The Bisesero genocide memorial is situated in the Western Province, in the Karongi District. It is a mountainous region that is situated about 31 km from the lakeside town of Karongi.
Historically, the majority of the people who lived in Bisesero were Tutsis. Their main activity was cattle-raising, so, they were called Abasesero, a name from which the region derived its name. During the 1994 genocide, Bisesero and the surrounding areas united in order to resist and protect themselves from the killers. For this reason, the place is now called the ―Hill of Resistance‖. They were successful for some days in fighting against the Interahamwe, who were
154 armed with clubs and machetes. After some days, soldiers from Kigali city came to reinforce the
―Interahamwe” militiamen against Abasesero, who could not resist and only a few of them survived. Bisesero is both a killing field and place of memory that contains about 27 000 bodies.
It is known as a place of resistance of the Tutsi who tried their utmost to protect themselves against the massacres that occurred between 27and 30 June 1994 (African Rights 1998). Their resistance was unsuccessful because they were fighting with sticks against well-armed and trained soldiers. The former prefecture of Kibuye, in which the Bisesero site is located, was part of the ‗Turquoise Zone‘ under control of the French army (Prunier 1999: 335, Adelman 1996:
54-57). In 1996, after the genocide, an association of survivors called ‗Kibuye Solidarity‘, together with other survivors, decided to preserve the victims‘ remains that were scattered over different hills and valleys, in one place, in order to bury them with dignity.
The Bisesero genocide memorial is a complex of nine small buildings, which represent the nine districts of the former province of Kibuye. Apart from these symbolic buildings, there is a circle that is surrounded by nine traditional weapons that show the materials that were used to kill during the 1994 genocide. These traditional weapons are at the entrance of the genocide memorial. In 1998, the official burial ceremonies were organized in Bisesero and the Ministry of Sport and Culture, in collaboration with INMR, began the internment of the bones and skulls of the victims.
5.4.4.5. The Rebero genocide memorial
The memorials that include mass graves and walls of names have different profiles. Although they do not exhibit the remains, they have impressive and emotive stories to tell. The groups that visited these memorials and discussed the issue under study considered them as ‗simple genocide memorials‘, as opposed to ‗complex genocide memorials‘. Multipart monuments of genocide include the house of memory and the exhibition of remains. The community seems to be comfortable with the organization of these memory places. Some of them, like Rebero and
155 Nyanza, have a space where there is a wall of names for the bodies that were buried. The illustrations below depict Rebero and Nyange genocide monuments.
Figure 4: Rebero and Nyange genocide memorials a. Wall of names at Rebero genocide memorial
Fieldwork, 2010
Rebero is a hill that is located in Kicukiro District, in Kigali city. It is a strategic place that has a good view of Kigali city. It favoured the control of Kigali and the Nyabarongo River by the troops that were based on that hill during the genocide. This river runs through Kigali and the Southern Province. It was considered a tourism destination, where the late president of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyarimana, built a good hotel, using traditional materials and methods, in order to serve as a place of leisure.
156 During the genocide, Rebero became a strategic vantage point, because it allowed the forces of government to keep all the movements in Kigali under control. It was very difficult for the RPF to conquer this hill. Many soldiers, from both sides, lost their lives during the battle. The Rebero genocide memorial is not a killing field, because it did not serve as a camp for the targeted group during the genocide but, it is rather considered as a place of memory. It is a genocide memorial, particularly for the politicians who were massacred because of their political ideologies and because they were strongly opposed to the former government. The corpses that were buried there include the people who were killed in the garden of the Kigali Hospital (CHUK). Rebero contains almost 14 400 bodies that were buried there. In April 1995 the first public genocide commemoration was organized at Rebero. Respondents noted that ―not only are genocide monuments honorific symbols for the departed but they also highlight the presence of divisions that are beyond definition‖.
5.4.4.6 The Nyange genocide memorial
The Nyange genocide memorial is located in the Northern Province, in Ngororero District, alongside the main road from Kigali City to Kibuye. The Nyange genocide memorial has a specific history in the genocide. It is a killing field and a place of memory. The village of Nyange was the Roman Catholic Church‘s mission. People went there to get protection by hiding in the church because the church is considered as a holy place. Reality showed the contrary, when the church compound was turned into a killing field.
The Nyange genocide memorial is located in the former prefecture of Kibuye, which was part of the ‗Turquoise Zones‘. In effect, people who, fleeing from the war, came from different corners of the country, gathered in this region since they believed it to be well protected and controlled by the French army. This caused more trouble for the targeted group. Sometimes, the killers were confused by the uncertainty of the physical appearance of the Tutsi, which caused them to kill some Hutus, who were not the target during the genocide.
157 Another form of memorial with mass grave
5.4.4.7 The Kiziguro genocide memorial
The Kiziguro genocide memorial is situated in the Western Province, in the Gatsibo District. The eleventh national commemoration of the genocide was organized at the Kiziguro genocide memorial. The Kiziguro group discussed this celebration and the message they read through that event of memory. This place is a bit different from Bugesera, where the church building has become a genocide memorial. At Kiziguro, the genocide memorial is built inside the church compound.
5.4.4.8 The Nyamasheke genocide memorial
The Nyamasheke genocide memorial is situated in the Western Province, in the Nyamasheke District. This place attracts many tourists because it is located on Lake Kivu. It borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nyungwe forest. It is situated in the former ‗Prefecture de Cyangugu‘ and this region was part of the ‗Turquoise Zone‘. From this area, the French soldiers
158 could organize operations in Rwanda during the genocide period, pretending to protect Rwandan civilians.
The Nyamasheke region has a dual historical background during the genocide because killings took place there, as in the other parts of the country. It harboured many refugees from different parts of the country who were fleeing to the DRC, the former Zaire, after the defeat of the Rwandan Forces Army. As part of the ‗Turquoise Zone‘, it took time for the RPF to enter that region. During this period, the killers had enough time to exterminate even the people who were not their genocide target but anyone who were suspected of having any ties with the Tutsi.
5.4.4.9 The Nyanza genocide memorial
Situated in Kigali City, in the Kicukiro District, this place is described as being both a killing field and place of memory. Nyanza was the place where the United Nations Forces (MINUAR) was stationed. Actually, they were located in a secondary school known as ―Ecole Technique de Kicukiro”. People from the areas surrounding Nyanza fled in large number to this school, seeking the protection of the United Nations Forces. Unfortunately, these forces left the place and returned to their respective countries, leaving behind them almost 5 000 Tutsi who were finally massacred (CNLG 2009: 3).
5.4.4.10 The Shyorongi genocide memorial
Located in the Northern Province, in the Rulindo District, the Shyorongi genocide memorial belongs to the category of local genocide memorials that include only mass graves. This location has been chosen as a strategic place that is easily accessible and located on the main road to the Rulindo District. Apart from being a place that has been selected by the authorities to hold a local genocide memorial, it does not have any particular history. All the victims‘ bodies that are buried here were collected from areas surrounding the memorial
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