Nyarubuye, Rwanda

Nyarubuye Genocide Memorial - darkometer rating : 9 - One of the more remote of the National Genocide Memorials of Rwanda . Refugees from the genocide gathered here in the massive church and adjacent convent but in just 2-3 days in mid April 1994 almost all of the 20,000 were butchered. It was one the starkest sites of death in Rwanda – now it is a fairly neatly maintained, dignified memorial and the church is back in use. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: The story of the massacres at Nyarubuye during the Rwandan genocide is an especially vile one, though a very typical one at the same time. It's one of those many cases where fleeing Tutsis (as well as moderate Hutus) were first sent to a church to seek safety but then found they had been duped. The ploy only served the killers. Assembled in one place they had it easier in slaughtering the Tutsis en masse. Some 20,000 is the most often quoted figure for the total death toll at Nyarubuye. The killings took no more than two or three days. In this case, a specific name can be attached to the betrayal and subsequent organized butchering of these victims: Sylvestre Gacumbitsi, who was the mayor (bourgmestre) of the district. He personally led the attacks on the church, distributed arms, and urged the mob to rape and kill, both in the run-up to the event as well as during it – using a megaphone! He actively took part as well. At the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, he was sentenced first to 30 years (when he was initially acquitted for murder and complicity in genocide), which was increased, after an appeal, to life imprisonment. For once, a key player in the actual massacres had to face justice.