A new harrowing revelation indicates that Belgium forced Rwanda’s Queen Mother Rosalie Gicanda to leave Brussels and return to Rwanda to be murdered with full knowledge that genocide against Tutsi was about to happen in few days.
Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement made the revelation on Saturday at a commemoration event honouring Queen Mother Gicanda who was executed behind her home during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi which claimed more than a million lives.
As the protracted armed struggle launched by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF/A) against the extremist regime had entered its third year, Queen Gicanda was not feeling well, and had secured a visa to travel to Belgium for specialised Medical attention.
“Queen Gicanda was in Belgium to seek medical attention. Belgium ordered her to leave the country when her Visa was still valid, despite them having enough information on the planning of the Genocide,” the Minister said.
While in Belgium, Queen Gicanda was being hosted by Dr. Gakwaya (now deceased) in Nivelle.
“The Mayor of Nivelle wrote her a letter addressed to Queen Gicanda on February 3, 1994, informing her that basing on the decision by the Minister of Security, she is ordered the following: To leave Belgium territory by February 12, 1994, To not go to Luxembourg and the Netherlands, To be held accountable by the law, if she doesn’t oblige, and To be forced out of the country while in custody as the decision to have her out of the country is being figured out,” the letter reads in part.
Minister Dr.Bizimana said the letter was delivered to Queen Gicanda and was required to sign its reception and compliance.
“Late Dr. Gakwaya, who was hosting Queen Gicanda, went to the Mayor’s office to let them know she was taking strong medication that needed him to keep following up on her and would affect her if she traveled before completion,” the Minister revealed.
According to the Minister’s revelation, the Nivelle Mayor’s office informed Dr.Gakwaya that they were giving Queen Gicanda until the end of March to leave Belgium and return to Rwanda.
“Dr.Gakwaya asked them of a letter that authorizes her to stay longer, and they responded to him that they know it, as it was indicated in their system,” the Minister said.
“When the time came, Queen Gicanda decided to go home.
Queen Gicanda is quoted to have told Dr. Gakwaya, “I have to oblige what I agreed to, like an adult, that is how God wanted it to go. Let me go home to my mother, and not cause you problems.”
Upon returning to Rwanda, the security situation had grown tense across the country as the RPF/A rebels exerted more pressure against the regime.
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.
