Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on Monday paid a vibrant tribute to ten Belgian U.N. soldiers who were killed during the Rwandan genocide against Tutsis in April 1994.
The Beligian peacekeepers were killed the following days after the Rwandan president’s plane was shot down on April 6, 1994, triggering the genocide in which Hutu-led government forces and ethnic militias killed more than one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
All the ten Beligian peacekeepers were assigned to protect the former Rwandan Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana,a moderate female Hutu who was also assassinated by the then Presidential Guard on April 7, 1994, shortly after the start of the genocide.
Speaking after laying a wreath on burial place at a former military barracks in the Capital city Kigali, the Belgian Prime Minister said that memories of killed Belgian peacekeepers are still fresh in their hearts and minds.
One of the former officer in the Rwandan Armed Forces (RAF), Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, has been deported this year by Belgium after serving his 20-year sentence over his responsibility for the murder of ten Belgian soldiers of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR).
Belgian justice has charged Maj. Ntuyahaga for being responsible in disarming and arresting the ten Belgian soldiers who were sent to escort the Prime Minister, before they were killed.
Immediately thereafter, the UNAMIR soldiers were attacked and beaten by Rwandan soldiers in the presence of Rwandan army officers including Maj. Ntuyahaga who was immediately transported to the Mutobo demobilization camp in northern Rwanda after his deportation from Belgium.
Reports on the attack indicate that four of the Belgian peacekeepers were killed on the spot, and the remaining six withstood several attacks for a number of hours before finally being killed.
CU/as/APA