2 former Rwandan mayors to be tried for genocide in Paris

Twenty-two years after the Rwanda genocide, some victims are preparing to testify against the mayor of Kabarondo and his predecessor who are said to have participated in killings. The duo is expected to face trial from May 10, in Paris.

On April 13, 1994, close to 3, 000 Tutsis and Hutus hid themselves in a church at Kabarondo to escape from the killers.

“They launched rockets inside the church. There were grenades which we removed by 4 pm. And then they were massacred here,” a former parish priest of Kabarondo, Oreste Incimatata said.

Very few people survived the incident, Tito Barahira and Octavian Ngenzi, the two former mayors of the locality are accused of having participated in the killings by encouraging militia men to kill.

“A woman ran out of church walking through corpses. She went towards Tito Barahira and told him do not kill me because I am Hutu. Barahira caught her, pushed her on her belly and then the Interahamwe killed her by hitting her head with a club,” a survivor, Jean Damascene said.

Jean Damascene will participate as a witness during the hearing in Paris. Some of the victims like him are married and are trying to rebuild their lives.

Barahira and Ngenzi who insist they are innocent, are mobilising to give their own side of the story during the trial.