Ministry contradicts report of Kagera bodies

The internal security ministry on Thursday denied the accuracy of a BBC Kinyarwanda radio report that eight beheaded bodies had been seen floating in the River Kagera and that the bodies were the victims of local defence unit members, referred to as Tutsi militia. “This is far from the truth since there were only three dead bodies in the river,” Rwanda News Agency (RNA) quoted a ministry press release as saying. The security ministry said the floating bodies had been seen by an immigration officer from Tanzania, the police commander of Kibungo Prefecture and the BBC correspondent using binoculars. It questioned how the reporter could have counted eight bodies while others only saw three, “and how he managed to identify the floating bodies as Rwandans at a distance”. The statement also denied that the bodies were evidence of insecurity, saying “there is security in all parts of the country and Kibungo in particular is one of the prefectures that have enjoyed security ever since war and genocide ended in 1994.” The ministry called on the BBC to investigate the episode and clear up the confusion. “Radio BBC, which is heard by many Rwandans, may lose credibility if such baseless and false allegations continue to be put on air,” the press release said.