Formerly, the Murambi Technical School, and now the Murambi Genocide Memorial Centre, is situated in the Murambi district in southern Rwanda. It was the site of a massacre during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. When the killings started, Tutsis in the region tried to hide at a local church. However, the bishop and mayor lured them into a trap by sending them to the technical school, claiming that French troops would protect them while there. On April 16, 1994, some 65,000 Tutsis ran to the school. Water was cut off and no food was available after the victims were told to gather there, this was all aimed at making the people weak to resist. The people tried to defend themselves for a few days using stones, and eventually, the Tutsi were overrun on April 21. The school was attacked by Hutu Interahamwe militiamen after the French soldiers disappeared. Some 45,000 Tutsi were murdered at the school, and almost all of those who managed to escape were killed the next day when they tried to hide in a nearby church. Thousands of bodies were placed in several pits which according to the guide at the memorial, were dug by the French. They then placed a volleyball court over the mass graves in an attempt to hide what happened. Among the bodies currently displayed are many children and infants.
A desolate, dreadful monument, hundreds of corpses are temporarily preserved and currently displayed in the school.
The memorial has been developed as a permanent exhibition of the genocide. It documents from pre-colonial times to the more recent history of the 1994 genocide. The design focuses on developing a memorial from which the school children and local community can benefit.