Asking for and giving mercy to the great crime of 1994 genocide against the Tutsis is a struggle that requires bravery. This was announced by Ignace Kabera, Vicar General of Cyangugu Catholic Diocese on Sunday, September 10, 2023, in the Giheke parish, where he celebrated the holly mass for the celebration of the Feast of Unity and Reconciliation.
In this ceremony to celebrate the day of unity and reconciliation held in the parish of Giheke, 10 perpetrators of the genocide against the Tutsi, asked for forgiveness from more than 34 survivors, and they forgave them in front of the crowd of Christians.
It is after almost two years that all of them received from the justice and peace commission of the Catholic Diocese of Cyangugu, the teachings of the saints in a group called ‘Inyenyeri’ which was formed by the perpetrators of the genocide against the Tutsis and the survivors from different religions and churches, including the Catholic Church, from Giheke sector, Rusizi District.
On Sunday, September 10, 2023, at the end of this journey, after the eucharistic sacrifice offered by His Excellency Mgr Ignace Kabera, Vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Cyangugu, in the parish of Giheke, Felicite Kambibi, one of the perpetrators , confessed and apologized to Nyiratebuka Judithe’s family, in front of crowd of Christians admitting that Nyiratebuka’s husband left where he was hiding because of hunger and fled to Kambibi’s house instead of helping him, she screamed and the killers came and killed him.
Talking in front of the Christians, they said that after the genocide against the Tutsis, they had been living in fear because this Kambibi felt that because she had only shouted, and the man was killed by others that she did not commit a crime because he was not the one who had killed him. However, Nyiratebuka continued to blame Kambibi for her husband’s death.
They continued to live in this fear for more than 27 years until 2021 when they were joined in the Unity and Reconciliation group of the Justice and Peace Commission of Cyangugu Diocese, where they received spiritual teachings, those who were stubborn were free and asked for the mercy to genocide survivor . Now they are the perpetrators of Tutsis genocide and the survivors live and work together in peace. Therefore, they appreciate the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Cyangugu for their contribution to achieve true unity and reconciliation.
The executive secretary of the Giheke sector, who represented government agencies in this ceremony, Hategekimana Claver, praised the role of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Diocese of Cyangugu in uniting Rwandans.
His Excellency Mgr Ignace Kabera,Vicar General of Cyangugu Catholic Diocese , in his message said that asking for and giving mercy for the great crime of genocide against the Tutsis, is a struggle, which requires heroism and he also asked the givers and recipients to be truthful and avoid bad words
In the parish of Giheke, the Day of Unity and Reconciliation was celebrated where the perpetrators and survivors of the genocide against the Tutsis formed a group called “Inyenyeri” (the stars) which was the first to be implemented in the parish of Giheke consisting of 37 survivors who gave mercy to ten perpetrators . This parish of Giheke was the only one of the 22 parishes that make up the Catholic Diocese of Cyangugu where this program of the Justice and Peace Commission has not been implemented. In all parishes there are 59 such groups since 2007 this program was started in the parish of Mushaka which has many groups as it counts over 13.
Written by Theophile NGENDAHIMANA, Communication officer
