venatie nyirabahire who testified that these people were killed said that he suspected that they were killed on 20041994 because on that date they heard gunshots nyiramuhire says that he is saddened by the fact that people were defeated in this forest and those who were killed in butare in general thanks to the conspiracy of intellectuals who were mostly doctors and teachers from the national university of rwanda nyiramuhire who was a teacher at that time says that many people died in butare because they were confident that they would have nothing to live for he also added that after the death of the former president of rwanda juvenal habyarimana they asked people to stay at home and assured them of safety the hope of security that they were hoping for began to disappear when the then interim president theodore sindikubwabo went to butare on april 19 and gave a speech that officially surrendered them according to nyiramuhire the next day they started hearing gunshots in the arboretum and elsewhere in the city after that the killers were advised by the burundians who had fled to rwanda and started to use traditional weapons such as amhiri to kill the tutsis who refused to shoot in vain marie claire joyeuse