‘He killed my sister. Now I see his remorse’: the extraordinary stories of survivors of the Rwandan genocide who forgave their attackers

Marianna Nyirantagorama with Marc Nyandekwe, who killed her sister during the genocide. All photographs: Jan Banning, courtesy of Galerie Fontana Photograph: Jan Banning/courtesy of Galerie Fontana

The most extraordinary reconciliations are taking place across Rwanda. Thirty years after the genocide, unthinkable partnerships have formed between unlikely pairs: murderers and survivors; parents and children whose families were torn apart by mass murder. They have been hard won.

“After the genocide, people came to apologise,” says 70-year-old Liberatha from the Karongi district in Rwanda, where nine out of 10 Tutsis were murdered, including her family. “I said, ‘I will never forgive you.’ I never expected to exchange a word with those people again.” Yet now, after going through a process of community-based sociotherapy, she feels “a hint of joy”.