On April 19, 1994, interim president Theodore Sindikubwabo drove to Butare where he delivered his infamous speech, condemning those who were not “working” (killing the Tutsi) and instructing them to “get out of their comfort zones and work.”
On April 20, at around 11am, a detachment of soldiers commanded by 2nd Lt. Pierre Bizimana invaded the home of Queen Gicanda where they abducted her and six others but left behind her bedridden mother.
They took Gicanda and the others behind the Ethnographic Museum where they were killed. She was among the first individuals to be killed in Butare.
It is alleged that Queen Gicanda was executed under the orders of Capt. Idelphonse Nizeyimana, the head of intelligence and military operations at an elite military training school, Ecole Superiere des Sous Officiers.
According to testimonies, the soldiers later returned to loot property at her home.
Queen Gicanda’s remains were buried in the backyard of her house before being moved to Mwima Hill in Nyanza, her final resting place next to the tomb of her husband, former King Mutara III.
(photo) Queen Gicanda’s last home located in Huye district, Ngoma Sector in Southern Province of Rwanda
Queen Gicanda would have survived the 1994 genocide against Tutsi which claimed a million lives if her visa to Belgium hadn’t been cancelled and sent back home.
Every year on April 20, relatives, friends and family gather at her tomb to pay their respects.
Queen Gicanda wand King Mutara III Rudahigwa of Rwanda
Capt. Nizeyimana: The “Butcher of Butare”
The International Tribunal for Rwanda(ICTR) in 2012, sentenced Nizeyimana to life in prison after finding him guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes all committed in the former Butare prefecture.
He was particularly found guilty of ordering the killing of thousands, including Queen Gicanda.
Nicknamed the “Butcher of Butare”, Nizeyimana was arrested in Uganda in 2009 and is the last member of the former Rwandan army to be tried by the UN court.
