Nyamata, Rwanda

Skulls of genocide victims, crypt of the Nyamata Catholic Church, Nyamata, Bugesera, Rwanda

During Apr to July 1994, Rwanda experienced an event of genocide which resulted in the killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda’s Tutsis (and a much smaller number of Hutu political moderates). The genocide was planned and perpetrated by the Hutu dominated government of Juvénal Habyarimana under the ‘Hutu Power’ ideology of ethnic superiority. Over the course of approximately 100 days, between 800,000 and 1,000,000 men, women and children were killed, principally by Hutu militias being directed by a Hutu political grouping known as the Akazu.

The event sent a shockwave through the region, leading to the invasion of Rwanda (from Uganda) by forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and ultimately to the overthrow of the Hutu regime in July 1994, 100 days after the genocide started. In the aftermath of the RPF invasion, approximately 2 million of ethnic Hutu Rwandas fled the country (many into the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo), forming vast refugee camps close to Rwanda’s western border. The destabilising impact of the genocide and refugee crisis upon the wider region, was a principal contributor to the First Congo War and Second Congo War, which together resulted in the deaths of more than 4 million people (mostly by disease and starvation) between 1996 and 2003.

The above picture is taken in the crypt of Nyamata Catholic Church where at least 10000 people were gathered seeking shelter from the genocide. Between Apr 14 and 19 militias attacked the church, using machetes, nail-studded clubs, and hand grenades to attempt to slaughter everyone inside. A very small number of people survived both this attack (by hiding under the piles of dead bodies) and the wider genocide to recount the story of what happened at Nyamata.

Today, the Nyamata Catholic Church is one of Rwanda’s most significant genocide memorials, a centre for both education and remembrance as Rwanda continues its efforts to reconcile and heal its society.