79 genocide victims buried

2010-06-14 09:57

Kigali - Rwandan authorities have buried the remains of 79 people killed during the 1994 genocide, a few days after the bodies were found, Radio Rwanda said on Sunday.

The remains were interred on Saturday at the Gisozi memorial in the capital Kigali, after a religious ceremony attended by officials and a representative from the US embassy.

A former staff member from the embassy had been among the victims identified.

"These bodies were discovered in the last few days, thanks to the testimonies of people who had remained silent until now," said Emmanuel Rutubuka, an official from the Nyamirambo district in Kigali.

"Thanks to the progress of the reconciliation process, they finally indicated the places where the bodies had been dumped," Rutubuka said.

According to the pro-government daily, the New Times, the victims had been dumped in toilets.

Carried out by ethnic Hutu extremists, the genocide of April to July 1994 claimed almost 800 000 lives, mostly those of minority Tutsis, according to United Nations figures.

- SAPA