These righteous people, referred to as Indakemwa in Kinyarwanda "did not agree with the genocide neither did they participate in the killings. They did everything they could to save Tutsis, at the risk of their lives", indicates Ibuka in a report.
Among the 265 saviors, "some were beaten, humiliated or ransacked by Interahamwe militias without betraying their conscience", the report adds.
According to the investigation, 20 persons were killed with Tutsis they were trying to protect or rescue. Father Jean-Bosco Munyaneza was notably killed with his Tutsi believers in Mukarange Parish (Eastern Rwanda). According to survivors, he replied to killers asking him to leave the Tutsis alone: "If you want to save me, save them with me; if you want to kill them, kill me with them".
The investigation also found that the less educated people were, the more they participated in rescuing Tutsis. About 74 percent of the 265 righteous were ordinary peasants.
SRE-ER/GF/FK
© Hirondelle News Agency