BISESERO MEMORIAL
Bisesero is a hilly area that was mostly populated by Tutsi herders, called Abaseseros. From the top of the hill, the view of the hills of Rwanda and Lake Kivu is breathtaking. Yet, during the genocide, this idyllic place was the scene of abominable massacres. The Tutsis had gathered on top of a mountain to resist the killers, often their neighbors. For a few days, they valiantly held off the attackers with stones, clubs and machetes. When the reinforcements of the Republican Guard and the Interahamwe militia arrived, armed with grenades and guns, there was no chance of escape. Only a few survived, but thousands more perished on this hill of martyrdom. The memorial site has since been called the Hill of Resistance. Bisesero evokes the historical controversy over the role of the French army in the military-humanitarian Operation Turquoise. The French army is accused of siding with the killers, allowing them to flee the country. Survivors also criticize the army for not having come to the aid of those threatened. In Bisesero, they waited for the promised help, but it arrived only three days later, when most of them had perished. In 2022, after seventeen years of judicial investigation, the inquiry into the inaction of the French army in Bisesero ended with a general dismissal.
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