An Afternoon at a Federal Prison

I was feeling a little hors de combat this morning, so I opted out of the morning trip.  Linda tells me that the group went to see Habyarimana's crashed plane (no photos, please) and the former presidential residence.   The residence is fairly close, too close really, all things considered, to the airport.  It was situated just beyond the end of the runway, and indeed, the part of the plane in which the president was found was actually within the grounds of the residence, right beside the pool.  Linda says the house was creepy in a Graceland sort of way.

After lunch Heather and I took a taxi to the prison to meet the group.  Linda had sent me a text during the day to tell me that's where they were headed in the afternoon, and I told Heather, who was resting because she has a terrible cough and cold.   We got ready, had John the hotel manager call us a taxi, and off we went. 

It was visitor's day at the prison so we waited out front with a group of women who were waiting to go in to meet their family members who were in the prison.  I guess we didn't really fit in with the crowd if you get my meaning, but we found a spot to sit in the shade and only had to wait about ten minutes for the bus to show up.   We got on the bus, and in we went.

The set up was about the same as it was the last time, except there were only four genocidaires that were there to talk to us.  We had met two of them before: the woman who helped at the barricades, and Valerie (I was a journalist) Bemeriki.    We listened to their stories.


I think the two men and the woman were honest when they said they felt real remorse.  The woman (whose name escapes me, I think she said Munyama, but I'll have to verify that) actually made a few of us cry (not me, but I can see how her words were effective) and I believe she feels shame and guilt.  I don't believe Valerie feels anything but anger at being in jail, even though she acknowledges that her radio broadcasts caused the death of many poeple.  I have read some of the transcripts of her radio shows, and there is no doubt that she is was the cause of people being killed, from the families whose whereabouts she broadcast over the air, to the teacher that she said had to be "warned".  She exhorted the killers to get to "work" and at one point reminded people that when it comes to killing cockroaches, it's important to kill them all, lest the young grow up to create more cockroaches.   She will be in jail for life.