KIGALI, Rwanda — Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country's genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

"Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don't want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?" asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

"It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure," the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

"Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst," it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors' organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people were buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. "The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried," Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.</s>Image copyright AFP Image caption Some 800,000 people were killed in the genocide

Four mass graves have been unearthed in Rwanda, which are believed to date from the 1994 genocide.

The sites were found in the Gasabo district, outside the capital Kigali, and about 200 bodies have been exhumed.

Around 3,000 people from the area went missing during the massacres, and local people believe the graves may contain all of their bodies.

Some 800,000 people - ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus - were slaughtered in 100 days by Hutu militias.

The graves were uncovered two weeks after commemorations were held to mark the start of the killings.

Volunteers are leading the search after being told of the location of the graves by a woman, who claims to have seen bodies dumped there.

Houses had to be destroyed in order to get to the graves, which were located underneath.

"The exercise is ongoing as we have identified four mass graves," Théogene Kabagambire, an official with the genocide charity Ibuka, told News Day, a Rwandan newspaper.

Many of the genocide's perpetrators have been released from prison after having completed their sentences.

BBC Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo says the discovery has raised questions in the local media about why the people who knew about these sites have held back from revealing their locations.

Mr Kabagambire says they are still searching for a fifth grave, and adds that some genocide convicts "are doing little to reveal the whereabouts of our loved ones".

Relatives of genocide victims have been scouring through the sites in search of their loved ones' remains.

"I have information that both my parents were killed and dumped in one of [the] mass graves here and I came with hope that I can identify the clothes they were wearing when they left," Isabelle Uwimana, one of survivors, told News Day.

"I wish to be sure that they are here so that I give them a decent burial."

Prudent Nsengiyumva from the BBC Great Lakes service says there are many more graves in the country that have yet to be located.

The genocide began on 6 April 1994, when a plane carrying Rwandan President Habyarimana and his Burundian counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down.

No-one survived the crash.

Hutu extremists blamed Tutsi rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), for the attack, before starting a well-organised slaughter campaign.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country's genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

"Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don't want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?" asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

"It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure," the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

"Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst," it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors' organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people had been buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. "The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried," Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country's genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

"Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don't want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?" asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

"It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure," the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

"Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst," it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors' organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people had been buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. "The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried," Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country’s genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

“Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don’t want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?” asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

“It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure,” the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

“Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst,” it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors’ organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people had been buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. “The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried,” Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda — Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country’s genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

“Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don’t want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?” asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

“It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure,” the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

“Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst,” it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors’ organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people had been buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. “The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried,” Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country’s genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

“Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don’t want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?” asked a tearful France Mukanagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

“It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure,” the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

“Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst,” it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide charity Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. “The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried,” Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.</s>Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country’s genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

“Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don’t want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?” asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

“It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure,” the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

“Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst,” it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors’ organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people had been buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. “The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried,” Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country's genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

"Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don't want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?" asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

"It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure," the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

"Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst," it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors' organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people had been buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. "The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried," Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.</s>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Mass graves that authorities say could contain more than 2,000 bodies have been discovered in Rwanda nearly a quarter-century after the country's genocide, and further graves are being sought nearby.

The new discovery is being called the most significant in a long time in this East African nation that is still recovering from the 1994 killings of more than 800,000 people.

Some Rwandans are shocked and dismayed that residents of the community outside the capital, Kigali, where the mass graves were found kept quiet about them for so many years.

"Those who participated in the killing of our relatives don't want to tell us where they buried them. How can you reconcile with such people?" asked a tearful France Mukantagazwa. She told The Associated Press she lost her father and other relatives in the genocide and believes their bodies are in the newly found graves.

The discovery of the graves in Gasabo district came just days after Rwanda marked 24 years since the mass killings of ethnic Tutsi and moderate ethnic Hutus.

"It is very disturbing that every now and then mass graves are discovered of which the now-free perpetrators never bothered to reveal to bereaved families so that they can get closure," the daily newspaper The New Times said in an editorial this week.

"Definitely some very cruel people still live in our midst," it added.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are thought to be buried in the graves based on the number of area residents who went missing during the genocide, Rashid Rwigamba, an official with the genocide survivors' organization Ibuka, told AP.

The information leading to the discovery came from a local landlord who at first refused to answer questions about the suspected mass graves until threatened with arrest, Rwigamba said. The landlord was later arrested, suspected of taking part in the killings and accused of knowing where people had been buried all along, he added.

Houses and toilets that had been built on top of the graves have been destroyed to make way for the search. "The exercise is ongoing and we have identified another house we suspect was built on a piece of land where victims were buried," Rwigamba said.

Bodies found so far include those of babies, based on the clothing that has been found, he said.

At least 207 bodies have been exhumed from one of the graves and 156 have been exhumed from another, said Theogen Kabagambire, an Ibuka official from Gasabo district.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the bodies or the graves.

During the genocide, a roadblock manned by Hutu militias was established meters away from the sites of the mass graves, survivors told the AP.

Authorities have launched investigations and those found to have participated in the killings will be prosecuted, Kabagambire said.
Four mass graves are found in Gasabo, Rwanda, thought to date back to the 1994 genocide. Around 3,000 people from the area remain missing. Houses are demolished to access the graves.