1994 Rwandan genocide testimony by Josiane Uwamahoro

Josiane Uwamahoro, a girl from Cellule Gakomeye, Kamusenye Sector of Commune Mukingi in Gitarama Prefecture, describes how Radio Muhabura broadcast anti-Tutsi messages at the beginning of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. She also describes how refugees came to her commune and told the residents that there were dead bodies lying on the road in Kigali. Tutsi families in Josiane's commune began spending nights outdoors in bushes. Soon after, Interahamwe prepared a list of people from Josiane's commune to be executed including all men and educated women, and she later witnessed Tutsi from her neighborhood being knifed. Josiane escaped to a relative's home and hid in a latrine. She escaped to Kabgayi in May 1994, but en route she was beaten by Interahamwe and saw mutilated bodies. The refugee experience in Kabgayi was difficult, and many refugees contracted cholera. Josiane decided to leave Kabgayi and returned to her hiding place in her relative's latrine.