By Seif Shaggy Gracien Hasingizwimana/Kigali,Rwanda,
Rubavu: Employees of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) paid tribute to the Tutsi buried at the Bigogwe Genocide Memorial in Rubavu District, emphasizing that continuing to remember the Genocide and advocating for human rights remains part of the commission’s daily responsibilities.
During the event held on May 29, 2026, in Kanzenze Sector, NCHR leaders and staff were briefed on how the Tutsi living in the former Mutura and Rwerere communes began to be killed before 1994 by soldiers of the government of Juvenal Habyarimana, who accused them of being accomplices of the Inkotanyi.
The Chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights, Providence Umurungi, stated that NCHR will continue to join Rwandans in remembering the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi and ensuring that this history never repeats itself.
She said: “Every year, the Commission joins Rwandans in remembering the innocent victims who were deprived of their unalienable right to life. It also continues to advocate for the rights of Rwandans so that the Genocide never happens again, with a specific focus on visiting memorials where the remains of the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi are laid to rest.”
She further pointed out that visiting the Bigogwe Memorial helps everyone remember the tragic history the country went through, in order to learn from it and teach the younger generations who did not experience it.
In a presentation delivered during the event, the President of IBUKA in Rubavu District, Gerard Mbarushimana, reminded attendees that what intensified the severity of the Genocide against the Tutsi in this area was the Bigogwe military camp.
He stated: “Since 1990, when the liberation war began, those so-called government forces named ‘Inzirabwoba’ based in the Bigogwe commando camp repeatedly raided and killed the Tutsi, leaving others disabled. While we know that national armed forces are supposed to secure all citizens, the forces of that time were completely different from the RDF we have today, which rescued us.”
Mbarushimana added that on the night of February 5, 1991, at the Bigogwe Military Camp, soldiers from the defeated government forces spent the night shooting and lied to the public that they had been attacked by the Inkotanyi forces. This led to the arrest and killing of many Tutsi the following day.
He went on to say that the Genocide against the Tutsi was carried out with high intensity in Bigogwe because the area was the birthplace of many leaders who played a major role in its planning and execution, organized under the “Akazu”.
Participants in the event were also briefed on how Lieutenant Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, who commanded the army in Gisenyi Prefecture, and Lieutenant Colonel Alphonse Nzungize, who was the Commander of the Bigogwe Military Camp, played a role in training the Interahamwe to kill the Tutsi and distributing numerous weapons to them, including firearms.
As NCHR continues its activities to promote and protect human rights, its leadership demonstrated that remembering the Genocide against the Tutsi and understanding its history remains one of the pathways to building a nation that leaves no room for divisionism and human rights violations.
The Bigogwe Genocide Memorial, located in Rubavu District, is the final resting place for 9,041 bodies of Tutsi killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, who lived in the former Mutura and Rwerere communes.
