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In Rwanda, Suicides Haunt Search for Justice and Closure
Jeanviere Nzamwitakuze, 31, was widowed by one of 69 suspected perpetrators of genocide who have killed themselves rather than face the public in traditional courts.
(By Craig Timberg -- The Washington Post)
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"There are so many people accused of the same thing, and they are still living," she said, averting her teary eyes.
The man who accused Mulinda of participating in the genocide, Canisous Munyeraraba, 36, a fellow militia member, implicated more than a dozen others. For confessing to illegal possession of a gun and looting, Munyeraraba was released from jail, at least temporarily, and will eventually receive a reduced sentence.
Munyeraraba said the torment of confronting their own horrendous crimes is more than some men can bear. He said Mulinda had been a gentle, honorable man, both before and after his alleged crimes.
"Many people changed during the genocide," Munyeraraba said. Mulinda "was not a violent person. He just found himself in the atrocities, like many others."
Others were less ready to excuse what Mulinda had apparently done. Beatrice Mukamusoni, 41, a tall, lean Tutsi, did not see Mulinda commit any crimes because she fled Shyorongi in the early days of the killing, she said. But Mukamusoni, whose husband, parents, sister and eldest child were killed in the genocide, said she had long heard rumors that he was a leader within his neighborhood militia.
"All these people who had a role, they should resolve their cases by committing suicide," she said, without a trace of remorse.
But her emotions about Mulinda's death were more complex. She had respected his work as a government official in recent years, and she said they enjoyed an amicable relationship. Such things are not uncommon in post-genocide Rwanda, where killers and survivors have returned home to the same villages, often living side by side.
On hearing the news of Mulinda's suicide, she said, she felt only sadness.
"If he's not innocent, that means many other people around us are not innocent," she said. "So shall we live in this country alone?"
Special correspondent Silver Bugingo contributed to this report.
