Justice4Survivors

Making survivors’ voices count

Tag: AVEGA

  • Rwanda genocide survivor helping refugees heal: “We can grow from trauma”

    Rwanda genocide survivor helping refugees heal: “We can grow from trauma”

    Esther Mujawayo, Photo/DW
    Esther Mujawayo-Keiner in her office at the Psychosocial Center for refugees in Düsseldorf

     

    Germany’s public international broadcaster (DW) published an inspiring story yesterday of Esther Mujawayo, a genocide survivor who rose above her own trauma and now giving back to her community in Germany.  Read her full story of courage and resilience below:

    ———-

    Esther Mujawayo-Keiner lost her husband, sister, parents, aunts and uncles in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She and her three daughters survived almost through a miracle. She was on maternity leave when all of her Tutsi colleagues were murdered during a meeting. And in the night that her family’s hideout was discovered, the women were spared.

    The genocide claimed the lives of some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. When it was over, Esther felt as though she was going insane. She was no longer sleeping or eating and her memory was failing her. Together with other female survivors, she founded AVEGA, a widows’ association. “By creating AVEGA, we gave our lives new meaning. We learned to cry together and we learned to laugh again,” Esther explained. The women realized that what they were feeling was not insanity but trauma. With this realization, their healing process began. “Our motto was to become alive, alive again. And, slowly, slowly, we did.” As Esther regained the ground under her feet, she decided to take a sabbatical year and train as a psychotherapist in the United Kingdom. She wanted to help other trauma survivors become alive again.

    Putting horrific memories in the bin

    In 1999 Esther moved to Germany with her daughters and her second husband. Since 2001, she has worked as a trauma therapist for African refugees at the Psychosocial Center for Refugees in Düsseldorf. “When refugees come to me first, they are in a very bad condition. The trauma make it hard for them to even remember to find [the way] back to the center. Sometimes they do not come back for months because they have completely lost their concentration.” More than 400 refugees seek help at the center every year. Most of her patients are suffering from memories of their war-torn home countries, and from the dangerous journeys they had to make to get to Germany. “I am currently working with one family who arrived in Europe by sea. Their children witnessed people falling off the overcrowded boat. Some passengers died on the journey, so the children were surrounded by dead bodies for days on end. Now, one of the little girls is haunted by nightmares of the boat ride. I gave her pen and paper during our first session and she drew a boat filled with dead bodies,” Esther said, adding that she provides her patients with a place to empty their heads, to leave all their horrific memories in her dust bin.

    The importance of community

    Esther Mujawayo
    Esther Mujawayo-Keiner in Vienna at the Women’s World Awards 2009, where she received the World Social Award

    For Esther, her children’s survival was what saved her. Her three daughters gave her a reason to continue and to rebuild their lives together. She sees the same sort of resilience in many of the female refugees at the center. “Even though they have lost everything, they still keep their role as a mother, as the caretaker of the household. The women still have a strong sense of purpose, which makes it easier for them to start their lives here.” The empowering impact AVEGA had on her life after the genocide taught Esther the importance of community. “I encourage the refugee women to go out and meet other refugees. Alone, you are just by yourself, but together you can be strong again.”

    Uncertainty hinders healing

    Two decades after the genocide, Esther sees Rwanda as a shining example of how to recuperate from tragedy. “From the worst, most terrible experience, we managed to make something good, something beautiful.” Esther describes Rwanda as a mosaic, with people scattered from different groups coming together and working hard to make the country into what it is today. What worries her is that many of her patients do not have the same opportunity to take part in a rebuilding process. She says that one of the most important aspects in healing is stability. The constant worry of not being granted asylum leaves many trapped in a state of fear. “When you are constantly thinking you will be deported tomorrow, you cannot integrate, you cannot learn the language, you cannot start to live again.”

    Growing from trauma

    For Esther Mujawayo-Keiner, Rwanda’s progress embodies post-traumatic growth. “There is a theory that says you can take your unfortunate history and use it to grow, to be even better.” Post-traumatic growth is something she sees in many of her patients. “There is a boy who came to me when he was 16 years old. He was dissociating and he was thinking he was mad. He got triggered and panicked just from the sight of a train conductor. The uniform reminded him of the people who killed his family.” Today, the former refugee is married, has two children and works at a bank in Düsseldorf. Sometimes, he gives Esther a lift to work in his new car. It is moments like these that convince her that “it is possible to become the man or the woman you used to be again, to become alive again.”

    Article first appeared at DW/Africa by Marie Sina.

  • Uwarokotse jenoside w’imyaka 70 uba mu nzu yaguye byamuviriyemo uburwayi

    asinati
    Inzu uwacitse ku icumu rya Jenoside yakorewe abatutsi, Kambuguje Asinati atuyemo.Photo:Umuseke.com

    Kambuguje w’ikigero cy’imyaka 70 yabwiye Umuseke ko aho ari ubu ntaho bitaniye no kuba hanze ndetse indwara ubu arwaye yazitewe n’imbeho nyinshi imusanga mu nzu.

    Uyu mukecuru aba mu gihande kimwe kitaguye cy’iyi nzu. Avuga ko yasasbye kenshi ubuyobozi ko bwamufasha gusana iyi nzu na mbere itaragwa ntabikorerwe. Akemeza ko ubu amerewe nabi n’uburwayi bukubitira no ku mbeho araraho n’izabukuru.

    Clement Bikino umuyobozi w’Akagali ka Gacaca i Rubengera avuga ko iki kibazo bakimenye ndetse agomba guhabwa umuganda akubakirwa.

    Bikino avuga ariko ko ikibazo cye kitihutiwe kuko ngo uyu mukecuru yigeze kubona amafaranga miliyoni zirindwi nyuma yo kugongwa n’umuzungu maze akayapfusha ubusa.

    Kuri iki Kambuguje Asinati yabwiye Umuseke ko koko yagonzwe n’umuzungu maze mu kwezi kwa mbere umwaka ushize akamwishyura miliyoni zirindwi, gusa akavuga ko aya mafaranga yahise ayaguramo amasambu y’abana be babiri barokotse bakanubaka nk’umurage yumvaga akwiye kubasigira bityo we yumva atayapfushije ubusa.

    Gedeon Ndendambizi, umunyamabanga Nshingwabikorwa w’Umurenge wa Rubengera we yabwiye Umuseke ko iki kibazo atari akizi. Imyaka ibaye 21, ikibazo cy’amazu kubacitse ku icumu gikomeje kuba ingorabahizi.

    Benshi bemeza ko Leta ikemuye  ikibazo cy’indishyi , abacitse ku icumu bagahabwa indishyi ikwiye kubantu n’ibintu byabo byangijwe muri jenoside ko byafasha mugukemura burundu ikibazo cy’imibereho mibi ikomeje kuba twibanire kubarokotse jenoside.

    Mu cyumba Kambuguje atuyemo
    Mu cyumba Kambuguje atuyemo

    Inkuru ya Umuseke.com

  • Gicumbi: Yirukanye umugore we amuhoye ubututsikazi

    Umugabo witwa Nshimiyimana Theophile utuye mu Kagari ka Nyarutarama mu Murenge wa Byumba mu Karere ka Gicumbi yishimira ko “Abubatsi b’Amahoro” bamufashije gusubirana n’umugore we yari yarirukanye amuhoye ubwoko bwe.

    Nshimiyimana avuga ko yashakanye n’umugore we witwa Muhimpundu Jacqueline mu mwaka w’1997 nyuma aza gucengezwamo amatwara na Mama we amumwangisha kuko ari umututsikazi.

    Nyuma yo gushaka uwo mugore nyina ngo yamubwiraga ko Abatutsi ari ubwoko bubi kandi umwana wa mbere bamubyarana na musaza wabo.

    Nshimiyimana n'umugore we Muhimpundu ubu ngo babanye neza.
    Nshimiyimana, Umugore we Muhimpundu ndetse n’imfura yabo.
    Nshimiyimana n’umugore we Muhimpundu ubu ngo babanye neza.

    Ngo ajya kwirukana umugore we Nshimiyimana yamushinje amarozi kuko ngo nyina na nyirarumwe be bari bamubwiye ko umugore yamuroze.

    Icyo gihe umugore yarahukanye ajya iwabo ajyana n’umwana w’umukobwa bari barabyaranye.

    Mama we yahise amushakira undi mugore ariko ngo nyuma yo kurongora uwo mukobwa bamushyingiye ngo ntiyigeze agira amahoro na make. Ngo kubera ukuntu yakundaga umugore we wa mbere yafashe icyemezo cyo kujya kumucyura.

    Ageze kwa sebukwe ngo ba nyirasenge b’umugore we bamusabye kuzana ijerekani y’ikigage ayikoreye ku mutwe maze nawe arataha akora ibyo bamubwiye ubundi atahana n’umugore we.

    Uyu mugabo yafashe ikemezo cyo kwimuka hafi y’aho nyina atuye kugira ngo bazabashe kugira umutekano hamwe n’umugore we.

    Nshimiyimana, Umugore we Muhimpundu ndetse n'imfura yabo.
    Nshimiyimana, Umugore we Muhimpundu ndetse n’imfura yabo.

    Umugore we Muhimpundu Jacqueline nawe yemeza ko akimara gushakana n’umugabo yahuye n’itotezwa riturutse ku kuba ari umututsikazi yakorerwaga n’abo mu muryango w’umugabo we.

    Ngo nyuma yo gucyurwa n’umugabo we bagasubira kubana byabaye ngombwa ko bimuka iruhande rwa nyina w’umugabo bajya gutura bonyine.

    Ngo babaye nk’ibicibwa mu muryango ariko nyuma baza kwiyunga biturutse ku “bubatsi b’Amahoro” bakorera mu Karere ka Gicumbi.

    Mukansanga Mediatrice uhagarariye itsinda ry’“Abubatsi b’Amahoro” bakorera mu Murenge wa Byumba avuga ko nyuma y’uko Nshimiyimana Theophile abaganirije ku kibazo yahuye nacyo giturutse ku muryango we, batangiye gusura iyi miryango babafasha kongera guhura haba ku ruhande rw’ababyeyi ndetse n’abavandimwe be.

    Abubatsi b’amahoro kandi bagiye baganiriza nyina w’uyu mugabo bamwigisha akamaro ko kubana neza n’abana be.

    Haje kubaho intambwe yo gusabana imbabazi hagati y’imiryango yose ndetse ubu ngo babanye neza.

    Ernestine Musanabera

  • Rukumberi: Abarokotse Jenoside bemeza ko bagikorerwa itotezwa

    Abarokotse Jenoside bo mu murenge wa Rukumberi mu karere ka Ngoma baravuga ko ubumwe n’ubwiyunge mu Banyarwanda ari ngombwa ariko ngo babangamiwe na bamwe mu bagize uruhare muri Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi babatoteza mu kubakorera ibikorwa by’urugomo.

    Abarokotse Jenoside b'i Rukumbeli baracyakorerwa ibikorwa bibatoteza

    Abarokotse Jenoside b’i Rukumberi bavuga ko abantu bajya mu mirima yabo bakabatemera imyaka ndetse bakaroga n’amatungo. Ibi bintu ngo babona ko bishobora kubangamira ubumwe n’ubwiyunge muri Rukumberi.

    Umwe muri abo barokotse Jenoside yagize ati “Nka njye nagerageje gukora umushinga wo guhinga urutoki ariko baraza bakitemera, mbese bakora uko bashoboye kose ngo badusubize inyuma.”

    Undi mugenzi we yongeraho ko inka ze bazimennye amaso, ndetse bakaroga amatungo. Abarokotse Jenoside bakavuga ko ari ubugome, kandi ngo abafatirwa muri ibyo bikorwa iyo bajyanywe ku murenge bafungwa ijoro rimwe bagataha iwabo.

    Icyifuzo cy’aba baturage ngo ni uko bahabwa umutekano uhagije kugira ngo na bo bakomeze basheke uko barushaho kwiteza imbere mu mudendezo ndetse n’abakora ubwo bugome bakabihanirwa.

    Umuyobozi w’umurenge wa Rukumberi, Egide Hanyurwimfura we atangaza ko mu gihe gito awamazemo ngo ibibazo nk’ibi nta byo arabona ngo byagiye biba mu myaka yashize dore ko we yahageze mu mpera z’umwaka ushize wa 2014.

    Aragira ati “Kuva nagera hano icyo kibazo nta cyo ndabona, nta we ndabona wahohotewe birashoboka mu myaka ishize ko byagiye bibaho nkihagera narabajije menya amakuru y’uyu murenge, byagiye bibaho ariko ubu nta byo ndabona.”

    Abarokotse Jenoside muri Rukumberi bavuga ko ubumwe n’ubwiyunge bushobora kugorana mu gihe bagitotezwa n’abagize uruhare muri Jenoside. End

    Inkuru yanditswe na Elia BYUKUSENGE 

  • Ibintu 6 bidasanzwe byagaragaye mu gutangiza kwibuka21

    Photo/umuseke: Ahashyinguye abishwe muri Jenoside ku rwibutso rwa Kigali mbere gato y’uko bashyira indabo ku mva zabo

    Uyu munsi itariki 7 Mata 2015, u Rwanda n’amahanga bibutse jenoside yakorewe abatutsi ku nshuro ya  21.  Ubutumwa bwatanzwe bwiganje ku zihe ngingo? Ni ibiki bidasanzwe mu mitegurire byagaragaye ugereranyije no kwibuka ku nshuro ya 20 n’izindi nshuro zabanje?

    1.Nta mihango rusange yatumiwemo abaturage basanzwe yateguwe ku rwego rw’igihugu.

    Byari bimenyerewe ko imihango yo gutangiza kwibuka  itegurwa muri Stade amahoro, abaturage barenga ibihumbi 20 batuye mu mujyi wa Kigali bakahateranira igihe kirenga amasaha atatu.  Muri uwo mwanya abahanzi batandukanye batambutsa indirimbo n’imivugo kuri jenoside. Haba kandi umwanya wo kumva ubuhamya bw’uwarokotse jenoside.  Uyu munsi  umuhango wo gutangiza kwibuka  wabaye mugufi cyane umara hagati y’iminota 30-45.  Uwo muhango wabereye ku rwibutso rwa Kigali, ugirwa no gushyira indabo kumva z’abazize jenoside bagera ku bihumbi 259,000 bahashyinguye, gucana urumuri rw’ikizere n’ijambo rya Perezida wa Repubulika. Witabiriwe n’abantu ugereranyije bari hagati ya 50 na 100 biganjemo abayobozi munzego nkuru z’igihugu n’abahagarariye ibihugu byabo mu Rwanda. Perezida w’umuryango IBUKA uhuje imiryango y’abacitse ku icumu  n’ubwo nta jambo yagenewe, yagaragaye mubitabiriye uwo muhango kimwe n’abo bafatanyije kuyobora imiryango iharanira inyungu z’abacitse ku icumu mu Rwanda.

    2.Abahagarariye abacitse ku icumu  bahawe umwanya wo gushyira indabo ku babo

    Bitandukanye n’ibyabaye mu kwibuka kunshuro ya 20 aho abacitse ku icumu n’imiryango yabuze ababo batemerewe gushyira indabo ku mva z’ababo, umuhango wa none ababuze ababo bamerewe gushyira indabo ku mva mu muhango wo gutangiza kwibuka. uku kubuza abacitse ku icumu gushyira indabo kubabo byari byanenzwe cyane n’imiryango iharanira inyungu zabo.   Perezida wa Repubulika yabimburiye abashyira indabo ku mva, hakurikiraho ambassaderi uhagarariye abandi, ku mwanya wa gatatu hakurikiraho abahagarariye ababuze ababo. N’ubwo ari ibyo gushimwa ko uyu mwaka ababuze babo bahawe umwanya, uyu muhango wo gushyiraho indabo uracyakorwa amacuri. Benshi mu bacitse ku icumu basanga imiryango y’ababuze ababo ariyo iba ikwiye gushyiraho indabo ku ikubitiro hanyuma abayobozi n’abandi bagakurikira kuko baba baje gufata mu mugongo ababuze ababo no guha icyubahiro abagiye.

    3. Gukoma amashyi mu gikorwa cyo kwibuka

    Mu myaka 19 ishize byari bimaze kumenyerwa ko nta gukoma mu mashyi mu gihe cy’imihango yo kwibuka kabone n’ubwo ari Perezida wa Repubulika waba uri kuvuga ijambo. Mu muhango wa none abari bakurikiye ijambo rya perezida wa Repubulika bakomye amashyi inshuro zigera kuri ebyiri. Gukoma amashyi Perezida wa Repubulika avuga ijambo mu gikorwa cyo kwibuka ku nshuro ya 20 byibajijweho n’imiryango y’abacitse ku icumu ndetse bitera n’umwuka mubi kuko bamwe basanga bitari bikwiye.   Bamwe mu bayobozi ba Leta baganiriye n’imiryango y’abacitse ku icumu bavuze ko gukoma amashyi byari igikorwa  gihutiyeho kitari cyateguwe.

    4. Nta Buhamya bw’uwacitse ku icumu bwagaragaye

     Ntibyari bimenyerewe ko mu muhango wo kwibuka uwo ari wo wose haburamo umwanya w’ubuhamya. Uyu munsi mu gikorwa cyo gutangiza kwibuka uwo mwanya ntiwatanzwe. Abo twabajije bitabiriye imihango yo kwibuka hirya no hino mu gihugu batubwiye ko hamwe na hamwe abacitse ku icumu bahawe umwanya wo gutanga ubuhamya, ahandi uwo mwanya ntutangwe. Hari kandi abacitse ku icumu bavuga ko bategekwa kuvuga ubuhamya bushimangira cyane gahunda za Leta n’uburyo biyubatse gusa aho kuvuga ku musaraba banyuzemo, n’ibibazo by’insobe bikibugarije.

    5. Mu mvugo-shusho u Rwanda nk’igihugu nirwo ”Victime” wa Jenoside

    Bitandukanye n’ibyari bimaze kumenyerwa, Perezida wa repubulika mu ijambo rye ntaho yavuze ijambo ‘’abacitse ku icumu, cyangwa abarokotse jenoside’’ by’umwihariko abihanganisha.  Abasesengura basanga Perezida wa Repubulika icyari kimushishikaje ari ukwerekana u Rwanda (Igihugu) nka ”Victime” wa jenoside kurusha abantu kugiti cyabo babuze ababyeyi, abana, abavandimwe n’inshuti. Mu ijambo ryamaze iminota 22, perezida wa Repubulika yibanze ku bibazo rusange by’igihugu, gupfobya jenoside, n’ubutabera. Perezida Kagame yanenze ibihugu bimwe  uburyo byita kubakoze jenoside barimo FDLR ‘’bagafatwa nk’amata y’abashyitsi’’.

    6. Nta Jambo IBUKA Yahawe

    Ku nshuro ya mbere kandi mu myaka 21, ntabwo umuryango IBUKA cyangwa urundi rwego urwo ari rwo rwose ruhagarariye abacitse ku icumu  rwahawe umwanya wo kugeza ijambo ku banyarwanda.  Uyu mwanya ubusanzwe  IBUKA iwukoresha mu rwego rwo gutanga ishusho y’imibereho y’abacitse ku icumu no gukora ubuvugizi kubibazo byugarije abarokotse jenoside yakorewe abatutsi. End

    Inkuru yanditswe na Al. G

  • Rwandan Genocide suspect Lying to gain U.S. Citizenship, Loses Appeal

    Beatrice Munyenyezi
    Genocide suspect, Beatrice Munyenyezi

    A woman who singled out members of Tutsi minority tribe in Rwanda for death lied on her application for U.S. citizenship, an appeals court affirmed last week, and must complete her sentence for the crime.

    Beatrice Munyenyezi’s husband, Arsene Shalom Ntahobali, led the Interahamwe militia of Rwanda’s then-ruling party, the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND).

    Ntahobali, a member of the majority Hutu tribe, operated a checkpoint outside a hotel he managed in Butare, Rwanda. Munyenyezi was found to have “kicked off the killing frenzy there by telling the party’s devotees that all Tutsi ‘cockroaches’ must die,” according to the ruling(pdf) Wednesday by a federal appeals court in Boston.

    Munyenyezi was prosecuted after a long investigation by Homeland Security agent Brian Andersen, who, according to Michele McPhee in Boston Magazine, became suspicious of Munyenyezi when her sister applied for political asylum in the United States, which had been granted to Munyenyezi in 1995. She became a U.S. citizen in 2003, having sworn that she had not had been a participant in the Rwandan genocide.

    In 2003, Andersen’s investigation culminated in the sentencing of Munyenyezi to 10 years in federal prison for lying about her role as a commander of one of a roadblocks where minority Tutsis were singled out for slaughter. Munyenyezi appealed her sentence, claiming she was only a bystander.

    The appeals court disagreed, ruling “she personally inspected IDs at the checkpoint, separated those who would live from those who would die (and die gruesomely), and kept records of the ghastly going-ons.” The court on Wednesday also upheld the conviction of Munyenyezi’s sister for lying on her application for asylum.

    Munyenyezi could not be tried in the United States directly for the Rwandan murders, but she may be sent back to Rwanda at the conclusion of her sentence in the U.S. for prosecution on those charges.

    source: Great Lakes voice

  • Compensation of Genocide survivors should be top of the agenda

    Our Analysis

    Better late than never! The New Times Rwanda published two consecutive articles on the need to provide reparation for survivors.  It is very encouraging that the state media is now covering sensitive topics such as reparation for survivors. The issue of reparations including compensation  was considered as a taboo subject in the Rwandan pro- state media. Survivors organisations have been campaigning for a reparation fund for over two decades. Their call remained unheeded and some times categorically rejected by the government of Rwanda via the ministry of Justice. As a result, many survivors especially elderly, those who have been raped, and those who were severely handicapped during the genocide  passed away before they receive  justice in form of reparation. The biggest problem was and remains only one—The Government’s political will to set up the framework for reparation.

    Kigali 21/03/2015, by New Times Rwanda: When the Gacaca courts closed their doors in 2012, close to two million suspects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi had passed through its system.

    The Genocide was not just about physical elimination of the Tutsi, it went far beyond; the killers went as far as trying to eliminate their very existence by destroying their homes and banana plantations and killing their animals.

    The scars that were left by the Genocide have not gone away. Stark reminders of where once stood a home and its inhabitants are abandoned homesteads with twenty-year old trees sprouting out of what were once bedrooms.

    Survivors have for the past two decades been busy trying to piece their lives together, and any hope of being compensated for their loss has slowly ebbed away as court orders to that effect have fallen on deaf ears.

    Some high profile cases of prominent personalities, such as Frodouard Karamira, one of the architects of the Genocide, ended with the court ordering that his victims be compensated from his vast property. The orders remained a dead letter and that was 15 years ago.

    While it is understandable that the judicial system had other priorities, such as undergoing a complete overhaul, sometimes being rebuilt from scratch, it has now come of age and can tackle the issue of Genocide compensations.

    As commemorations of the 21st anniversary of the Genocide are just around the corner, survivors should be given a new lease of hope that, finally, their patience was not all in vain.

    End

  • Will Genocide convicts ever pay back all looted property?

    1426800669children-lighting-candles-at-amahoro-Stadium-during-the-Kwibuka-commemoration
    Children light candles at Amahoro Stadium during Kwibuka20 commemoration event last year. (Photo:New Times)

    As far as Aloys Rwamasirabo can recall, it’s been about eight years since a Gacaca court in his Western Province’s Nyange Sector in Karongi District ordered several Genocide convicts to pay him about Rwf3.5 million for destroying his house and looting his cows and furniture during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

    However, up to now, the convicts still owe him about Rwf2 million, and his hope of getting the money has been fading.

    “Some of them (the convicts) deliberately refused to pay me while others are too poor to pay. It’s not clear how I will get paid unless local officials intervene to force those who are able to pay to do so,” Rwamasirabo told The New Times yesterday.

    For those who are too poor to pay, he says, government should employ them on projects that are beneficial to the public and use their earnings to pay Genocide survivors.

    Rwamasirabo’s case is one of the 10,762 countrywide where Genocide convicts are yet to pay for the property they looted or destroyed during the Genocide two decades ago.

    Officials at the Ministry of Justice estimate the value of property owed to survivors at about Rwf3 billion.

    From calls of observers and experts, to reports of lawmakers, and complaints from survivors’ groups, the government is under pressure to execute decisions of Gacaca courts, which compel thousands of convicts to pay back survivors’ property.

    Special taskforce

    According to Naphtal Ahishakiye, executive secretary of Ibuka, the umbrella group of Genocide survivors’ organisations, the government should create a special taskforce in charge of executing Gacaca decisions with regards to paying back property that was looted from Genocide survivors.

    Ahishakiye said the taskforce would include officials from institutions such as the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide, and Rwanda National Police.

    “These can work with district officials to solve the problem. We need the payments to be settled so we can move on to other things. Right now we don’t know if people haven’t paid because they are unable to do so or whether they simply don’t want to pay,” he said.

    At the 20th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi last year, district officials had vowed to have solved this problem by the time the country marks the following commemoration.

    However, more than 10,000 cases remain unsettled about two weeks before Rwandans mark the 21st anniversary of the Genocide.

    “Information we have is that these issues were not addressed,” Ahishakiye said.

    Senator Jean Damascène Bizimana, the chairperson of the senatorial Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security, said the issue of unsettled payments to Genocide survivors by convicts needs to be addressed, which he said would be a major catalyst for reconciliation between the survivors and perpetrators.

    “It’s an issue that needs serious attention,” he told fellow senators on Tuesday after a senatorial report on the justice sector was presented before the Senate.

    That issue could be growing bigger, but officials in the Ministry of Justice say they have been planning how to address it.

    Of the remaining 10,762 unsettled claims, nearly a half of them (5,298) involve convicts who don’t have a penny to their name to pay back for property they confiscated or destroyed during the Genocide, officials say.

    The head of Access to Justice Department at the Ministry of Justice, Odette Yankulije, said it is now top priority for the officials at the ministry to do everything in their power to ensure that Genocide convicts pay back to the survivors.

    Using bailiffs

    Yankulije suggested a two-pronged approach that would make that happen: increasing the number of professional court bailiffs from the current 129 to 223 before May as well as enacting a new presidential order determining modalities for execution of community service as alternative penalty to imprisonment.

    She said increasing the number of bailiffs will help every Genocide survivor to use services of the bailiff in compelling Genocide convicts to pay back by attaching and auctioning whatever valuable property they may own while the new presidential order would determine how indigent convicts can work in community service projects and their earnings paid to the survivors.

    “For those who are able to pay, it won’t take long before they comply, but those who are unable to pay will take time because they will have to work until they get the money,” she said.

    The official said a list of all the country’s bailiffs and their contacts will be provided at local government entities down to the village level and local officials will be tasked to sensitise Genocide survivors to use their services to get back what courts awarded them.

    “We need to give this issue high priority. By December, we should have done something tangible,” she said.

    Source : The New Times Rwanda

  • Kibuye: Uwacitse ku icumu wasigaye wenyine mu kagari aratotezwa

    uwarokotse rubengera
    Mukabose Emertha warokotse wenyine mu kagari ka Ruragwe

    Mukabose Emeritha umubyeyi warokotse Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi agasigara ari incike aratabaza kuko ngo akomeje gukorerwa ihohoterwa. Atuye mu murenge wa Rubengera, Akagali ka Ruragwe, Umudugudu wa Rutaro, muri Karongi.

    Umwaka ushize abantu batamenyekanye bamusenyeye inzu none  ngo bongeye baroga inka ye yaramaranye imyaka ine ihaka biyiviramo gupfa.

    Iyi nka imaze gupfa barayibaze mu gifu cyayo basangamo imifuka y’amagunira, impu z’inyamaswa,  n’imisatsi y’imikorano y’abagore (mèches).

    Mukabose avuga  ko inka ye yarozwe n’abaturanyi be kuko  n’ubusanzwe bahora bamubanira nabi  ngo kuko ariwe wacitse ku icumu rya Jenoside wenyine utuye mu mudugudu wa Rutabo.

    Ati: “Barantoteza none n’inka nahawe na FARG barayihitanye!  Si ibya none kuko n’ umwaka ushize bansenyeye inzu ntakambira ubuyobozi bw’umurenge ndongera ndubakirwa. Bashaka ko ntaba muri uyu mudugudu  abayobozi bari  bakwiye kumba hafi.”

    Mukabose  yari atwaye ibyo bakuye mu nda y’inka abijyanye ku murenge wa Rubengera kubyereka ubuyobozi ni na bwo yaganiraga n’Umuseke.

    Atunga agatoki kandi  umuvuzi w’amatungo  ngo kuko yamusabye kenshi ko inka ye yavurwa  hanyuma aho kugira ngo abe ariwe wiyizira ahubwo  akohereza uwimenyereza umwuga na we utaragize icyo abikoraho.

    Ngo inka ye yarinze ipfa uwo ‘muganga’ wimenyerezaga umwuga ayireba. Uyu wimenyereza umwuga ngo yabwiye ny’iri nka ko n’iyo na muganga mukuru w’amatungo aza na we ntacyo yari bubashe guhindura ku buzima bwayo kuko ngo atari buvure ‘amarozi’.

    Uyu mubyeyi afite impungenge z’uko nyuma yo gusenyerwa inzu, none bakaba bishe inka ye, ngo ni we bazakurikizaho.

    Umuyobozi w’umurenge wa Rubengera  Ngendambizi Gideon  yavuze ko  icyo kibazo atari akizi  bityo ngo agiye gukurikirana nasanga Mukabose atotezwa koko, azabyikurikiranira ashyikirize ubugenzacyaha abazaba bakekwaho uruhare muri ibi bikorwa.

    Isesengura ryacu (Al.G)

    Biramenyerewe ko abarokotse jenoside by’umwihariko batuye mu byaro bahohoterwa mu buryo bunyuranye bamwe bakanicwa. Umwaka ushize wonyine umuryango IBUKA washyikirije  Sena y’ u Rwanda urutonde rwa dosiye  zisaga 50 zigaragaramo ibikorwa by’ingengabitekerezo n’ihohoterwa rikorerwa abacitse ku icumu.  Abacitse ku icumu benshi bahitamo kwimuka burundu aho bari batuye mbere ya Jenoside abandi bakahagurisha kubera ikibazo cy’umutekano. Abandi bacitse ku icumu cyane cyane mu burengerazuba bw’u Rwanda  n’amajyaruguru aho abarokotse ari mbarwa mu mirenge bashyirwaho amananiza atuma bimuka burundu. Abaturanyi biganjemo abakoze jenoside bagandisha abandi bakababuza guhingira uwarokotse jenoside kabone n’ubwo yaba yishyura amafaranga menshi. Abanditsi bavuga ko abagera kuri 85% y’abatutsi bari mugihugu batembwe mu gihe cya Jenoside yakorewe abatutsi. Umuryango AERG wagiye ugaragaza ko Amasambu y’imiryango yazimye n’ amasambu y’abana b’impfubyi bari bato mu gihe cya jenoside hamwe  na hamwe yatwawe n’abakoze jenoside andi atwarwa na Leta muri gahunda yiswe ”isaranganya”. N’ubwo hari intambwe yatewe mu bijyanye n’ubumwe n’ubwiyunge biragaragara ko inzira ikiri ndende. End

    Inkuru ya Umuseke yasubiwemo na Al.G

  • Nyuma y’imyaka 21 ibihumbi by’abacitse ku icumu nta cumbi

    Inzu y'uwacitse ku icumu
    Inzu y’uwacitse ku icumu/Photo T. Kisambira

    Ikigega cy’igihugu gishinzwe gutera inkunga abarokotse Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi batishoboye (FARG) bwatangaje ko hagikenewe imbaraga nyinshi mu gusana no kububakira bundi bushya amacumbi, igikorwa bwemeza ko gikeneye amafaranga y’u Rwanda asanga miliyari 36.

    Ikibazo cy’amacumbi y’abarokotse Jenoside asenyuka mu buryo budasobanutse, n’icy’abatarabona aho bakinga umusaya magingo aya, ni bimwe mu byo Abadepite bagize Komisiyo ishinzwe gukurikirana imikoreshereze y’imari n’umutungo bya Leta (PAC) bavuga ko basanze bikiri ingutu mu ngendo bagiriye mu turere dutandukanye mu gihugu.

    Mu biganiro PAC yagiranye na Minisiteri y’ubutegetsi bw’igihugu kuri uyu wa Mbere, yagaragaje ko biteye inkeke kubona nyuma y’imyaka 20 hakiri abarokotse Jenoside batuye mu nzu zenda kubagwa hejuru, n’abatarabona aho bakinga umusaya.

    Umuyobozi wa FARG, Theophile Ruberangeyo, yemeranya n’aba badepite ko hari abarokotse Jenoside bagifite ibibazo uruhuri, byiganjemo iby’abatarabona amacumbi n’abayahawe agasenyuka hadaciye kabiri.

    Ruberangeyo asobanura ko kuva muri 1994 hamaze kubakwa inzu zisaga ibihumbi 44 z’abarokotse Jenoside batishoboye, ariko ngo hari izamaze gusenyuka bitewe n’uko zubatswe hutihuti, ba rwiyemezamirimo batabaye inyangamugayo bakayubaka nabi, ndetse na bamwe mu bacitse ku icumu bagiye bayafata nabi.

    Yagize ati “Hari bamwe muri bo bagiye babona ko ari leta iyabahaye bagatangira kuyafata uko bishakiye, ibyo nabyo biza kuba ikibazo.”

    Mu ibarura FARG ivuga ko yakoze mu mwaka wa 2013, yasanze hari inzu 3036 z’abacitse ku icumu batishoboye zikeneye gusanwa na leta kuko ba nyira zo nta bushobozi bafite.

    Iri barura kandi ryagaragaje izindi nzu 4500 ba nyira zo bashobora kugerageza kwisanira, ariko leta ikabunganira mu buryo bumwe cyangwa ubundi.

    Ba nyir’inzu zisaga 6000 bandi bo basanzweho imyumvire igikeneye amasomo, kuko inzu bazifata nabi ku bwende, barakeburwa bagasabwa kuzitaho bazisana, aho kugira ngo zibasenyukireho bazirebera kandi bafite ubushobozi.

    Kuri aba byagaragaye ko leta yabafasha gusana no kongera guterura bundi bushya inzu zabo zangiritse bikomeye, hiyongeraho izindi nzu 1687 zigomba kubakirwa abacitse ku icumu batishoboye batigeze bazihabwa, byose hamwe bigatwara amafaranga asaga miliyari 36 nk’uko bisobanurwa n’umuyobozi wa FARG.

    Uyu muyobozi ariko anagaragaza ko hagikenewe uruhare rwa buri wese kugira ngo ibibazo byugarije abarokotse Jenoside barimo inshike, imfubyi n’abandi batishoboye babone amacumbi.

    Avuga ko izi miliyari 36 zikenewe ari nyinshi cyane, ugereranyije n’ibyo ikigega gisabwa gukora byose, ku buryo ibi bidakwiye guharirwa leta gusa ahubwo abantu bakwiye kuyunganira.

    Yagize ati“Ntabwo tujya turenza miliyari 27 kandi hakenewe miliyari 36 kandi hari ibigomba gukorwa byinshi bitandukanye harimo n’uburezi butwara 75%.Turavuga tuti ku bufatanye bwacu tugomba gufasha leta kugira ngo ayo mazu ashobore gusanwa.”

    Minisitiri w’Ubutegetsi bw’igihugu, Francis Kaboneka, yunze mu rya Ruberangeyo asaba Abanyarwanda kujya bafatanya gukemura ibibazo bya bagenzi babo. Yagaragaje ko byaba bibabaje kuba inzu y’uwacitse ku icumu yamusenyukiraho abaturanyi barebera kandi bafite ubushobozi bwo kumufasha.

    Uretse ibikorwa by’umuganda, ibya Army week n’ibindi bisanzwe byunganira leta mu gufasha abacitse ku icumu rya Jenoside batishoboye, FARG yagaragaje ko ubu hari ibikorwa bya AERG/GAERG biri kubafasha gukemura ibibazo bitandukanye birimo no kububakira amacumbi.

    Kugira ngo ikibazo cy’amacumbi gikemuke burundu, Ruberangeyo avuga ko hafashwe ingamba zikarishye zo kurinda ko hagira uburiganya ubwo ari bwo bwose bwakorwa ku gutanga izi nzu abarokotse Jenoside batishoboye bubakiwe.

    Ati“Tumaze kubibona ko hari abantu bahabwa inzu kabiri cyangwa bakazigurisha, tujya kwemereza abantu iwabo, aho barokokeye Jenoside. Tuziko bivunanye hari abo bivuna ariko hari n’abandi batabishaka bavuga ngo sinshaka gusubira iyo ngiyo ariko byo ni ngombwa kuko hariya mu kagari nibo bamuzi bazi n’ibyo yakorewe, yabonye inzu atagombye kubakirwa bwa kabiri cyangwa yaragurishije.”

    Ikibazo cy’amacumbi y’abarokotse Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi batishoboye kiri mu by’ibanze Umugenzuzi mukuru w’imari ya Leta yari yatungiye agatoki Minisiteri y’Ubutegetsi bw’Igihugu, ko harimo ibitagenda neza bikwiye gukosoka.

    Inkuru ya Igihe.com

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