It feels a bit odd to call this a 'must-see activity', since it's not exactly a tourist spot that I'm talking about, but considering how disaffected the issue was to the world, I think it couldn't go with a better title. We were aware that the…Read More

It feels a bit odd to call this a 'must-see activity', since it's not exactly a tourist spot that I'm talking about, but considering how disaffected the issue was to the world, I think it couldn't go with a better title.

We were aware that the Ntarama church was among the genocide sites. We knew it was going to shock us when we saw it, but weren't prepared for the sights that lay in store.

While we approached the site upon a little hill, there were no pointers to the acts that took place here in April 1994. It seemed like a peaceful part of the countryside, but only till you reach a little board with some statistics, erected just outside the church compound. It read: 'Ntarama church, Genocide site, +-5,000 persons.

When the killings were underway, a large portion of the Tutsi-Christian minority flocked to churches, assuming that their Hutu attackers (the Interehamwe) and fellow Christians would not enter. That, however, was not to be. The killers found their conveniently rounded up and unarmed targets, and what followed was a bloodbath of immense propotions.

The near 5,000 Tutsis taking shelter were hacked to death with machetes and clubs. Soon the attention turned to the children, who were dashed to the walls one by one and killed. The stains from which can still be seen. The few that survived, by hiding amongst the dead, lay beside bodies from their own familes. Mothers, children, brothers...

The curch has been left pretty much as it was in 1994, the bones and belongings of the dead still lying among the aisles and the altar. I was trying to get some shots for the feature we were shooting, and wanted to get myself to a point near the altar, but simply could not make my way past the skulls, bones and the remains of the clothes of the victims from that day. Tattered pieces of cloth that still bore blood stains.

The skulls that are still largely intact, most bearing the distinct machete crack, have been neatly arranged in rows on wooden planks, each one telling a painful story. It's a bizarre reminder of the 100 days that history tried to ignore.

The former Belgian colonial government in Rwanda had introduced the concept of ID cards for the Rwandans. These cards clearly stated whether the cardholder was a Muhutu, Mututsi, or Mutwa. This brought with it a fixed concept of group or racial identity, something that was…Read More

The former Belgian colonial government in Rwanda had introduced the concept of ID cards for the Rwandans. These cards clearly stated whether the cardholder was a Muhutu, Mututsi, or Mutwa. This brought with it a fixed concept of group or racial identity, something that was not so prevalent so far. The post-colonial government of Rwanda decided to retain this practice, and many Hutus in the government endorsed it, too.

The systematic killings that were a feature of the Rwandan genocide were helped in a big way by this system. At the many roadblocks, which were spread all across town, it would probably have spelt certain death for someone to have been seen with an ID reading Tutsi.

At the Kigali Memorial Centre, there are a few ID cards on display. They were being carried by people who were killed during the days of the genocide and still bear the bloodstains.

Gacaca means grass. These are local-level courts that were traditionally used by village communities who would gather on a patch of grass to resolve conflicts, usually between families, employing the heads of each household as judges. In an effort to speed up the process of justice…Read More

Gacaca means grass. These are local-level courts that were traditionally used by village communities who would gather on a patch of grass to resolve conflicts, usually between families, employing the heads of each household as judges.

In an effort to speed up the process of justice in the post-genocide scenario, Rwandans have chosen the Gacaca system. The courts often hand out reduced sentences to those who confess to their crimes. Since the process often takes place in the presence of the victims, it can also be a sort of reconciliation and healing for both parties.

Though the system is said to be far from perfect, it is preferred to a conventional system where those in prison could have to wait for years and years without a trial before their case comes up for hearing. Over 1,000,000 people accused of genocide are being held in Rwanda's prisons.

It was a strangely calm yet eerie sight to look out of the window as we came in to land. It was dusk, moving into darkness, and there was a mist settling upon the hills, becoming unusually dark. I was probably just overreacting. I still…Read More

It was a strangely calm yet eerie sight to look out of the window as we came in to land. It was dusk, moving into darkness, and there was a mist settling upon the hills, becoming unusually dark. I was probably just overreacting. I still had the frightful images of the genocide in my head…

In true traveller style, I pulled out my camera as soon as we set foot upon the tarmac, only to have it immediately snatched from my hand by a security guard. I begged and pleaded for the next few minutes, and it was returned eventually. You are not allowed to take pictures there. Perhaps an oversensitive nerve, but the genocide in 1994 was sparked off when the plane carrying the then president was shot down at the airport. Not far from where I was standing.

An interview with a head of state is always a special thing. To top that, interviewing someone who has had such a crucial role to play in where Rwanda stands today was even more important for us. Paul Kagame, the soft-spoken teetotaller president, exudes an…Read More

An interview with a head of state is always a special thing. To top that, interviewing someone who has had such a crucial role to play in where Rwanda stands today was even more important for us.

Paul Kagame, the soft-spoken teetotaller president, exudes an image which almost seems to hide his past. A military man for most of his life, he led the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the Tutsi rebel force, which toppled the genocidal Hutu regime, and brought an end to the slaughter.

There have, however, been accusations against President Kagame as well - from the French, for one - that he was the one who gave the order to shoot down the airplane of the then-president Habyalimana, which sparked the genocide. He has rubbished the allegations and has in turn accused the French of being directly involved in supporting the Hutu extremists during the genocide. This view on France's role, is also shared by a lot of people in Rwanda.

At Ntarama, we met Eddie, a Hutu who had been part of the Interhamwe and was one of the killers. He had been in jail for 9 years and had been freed recently by the Gacaca court. He was doing his bit of community service…Read More

At Ntarama, we met Eddie, a Hutu who had been part of the Interhamwe and was one of the killers. He had been in jail for 9 years and had been freed recently by the Gacaca court. He was doing his bit of community service now. We wanted to interview him on camera, and he agreed...

Eddie recounted, in great detail, his experiences during the killings and his own actions. Pretty brutal and spine-chilling stuff... He described how he hated the Tutsis, how he killed his neighbour's wife, and how he and his fellow Hutus used to compete in killing Tutsis. The fewer the blows needed to kill, the more committed you were to the cause. Heavier clubs with nails were, therefore, the preferred weapon. He killed 16 Tutsis that he could remember, out of which three or four he killed single-handedly.

Today Eddie walks free, though he says it's with a heavy conscience. The Gacaca courts had set him free, and the husband of the neighbour who he'd killed had forgiven him too...

I forget her name... but hers was a typically sordid tale among many of the survivors. Perhaps hers was a little worse than the others, though. After seeing every single member of her family being butchered at the hands of the attackers, she spent three months…Read More

I forget her name... but hers was a typically sordid tale among many of the survivors. Perhaps hers was a little worse than the others, though.

After seeing every single member of her family being butchered at the hands of the attackers, she spent three months in captivity, held by the Hutu 'interhamwe' militia. She was regularly assaulted and raped throughout that time.

At the end of the ordeal, when she was eventually free, she realised that she was pregnant. Also, she was suspected of being HIV-positive. She eventually bore a son, the only family she has now. The child to her was also a cruel reminder of the terrible events from the past. She loved him and hated him... and admitted that she sometimes vented her anguish on the child, who had just turned ten.