KarangwaFrancois-HandwrittenTestimony.pdfFrançois Karangwa, a boy from Buhanda Cellule, Nyakogo Sector, and Commune Masango in Gitarama Prefecture, describes how he was chased by gangs trying to kill him. He initially hid behind boulders and sought refuge at a priest's residence, but was chased away. His family escaped to Gitwe, Byimana School in Kabgayi, then to Kigoma and were attacked by gangs on several occasions. They briefly found shelter in the home of a Good Samaritan, but had to give him money to buy food. One night, members of MDR Pawa, raided the home and arrested Karangwa and other Tutsi, whom they were going to kill at Kiruri. The militia men forced them to pay 8,500FRW as ransom and immediately beat all captives. The captors escorted them to Commune Murama, then force marched the back to Commune Masango. Karangwa and other refugees were again attacked by another militia group on the way to Masango and forced to pay 1000FRW with the threat that they would kill a young boy whom they had already beaten. Karangwa was later taken in by a family before Inkotanyi rescued him and took all the people in the homestead to safety in Kibuye. There he found his aunt whom he still lived with in 1999.
Handwritten testimony by a male secondary school student from Buhanda Cell, Nyakogo Sector of Masango Commune in Gitarama Prefecture describing his experiences during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
