Burundi army accused of war crimes in DRC

In a recent report titled "Hidden from View," the BHRI documents and reports the Burundian army, the Imbonerakure, and the RED-Tabara rebel movement for violating the Geneva Conventions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The Initiative for Human Rights in Burundi has decided to focus on the behaviour of Burundian soldiers deployed in the province of South Kivu, a region which has received much less attention than recent events in North Kivu. Kivu,'' said Carina Tertsakian, a researcher at BHRI is quoted by RPA at the launch of the report.

The report read in part, "Victims and their family members said Burundian soldiers raped, kidnapped, arbitrarily detained, mistreated Congolese civilians and looted their property."

"In September 2022, for example, armed men in Burundian military uniforms speaking Kirundi, the language of Burundi, raped several Congolese women, then accused them of being the “wives” of Burundian armed group members. In another incident, also in September 2022, Burundian soldiers raped a Congolese woman and her 16-year-old sister-in-law, in front of her three children," the reports read.

However, the RED-Tabara rebel movement has vehemently rejected the report and questioned the claims made in the report.

The human rights organization also reports incidents involving members of the ruling party's youth league, the Imbonerakure, who allegedly fought alongside Burundian troops in the mentioned part of the DRC. One particularly disturbing incident in October 2022 is highlighted, where a member of the Imbonerakure reportedly subjected a Congolese woman to sexual violence by inserting the barrel of his gun into her vagina in the presence of her children.

"In October 2022, a member of the Imbonerakure inserted the barrel of his gun into the vagina of a Congolese woman in front of her children…In November 2022, members of the Rule of Law Resistance Movement kidnapped women and held them as sex slaves. For example, one woman was forced to live with RED-Tabara fighters for a month and was raped several times by their fighters during this period,” the report further added.

In 2021, the armed group known as M23, officially declared defeated in 2013, experienced a resurgence, carrying out at least ten attacks on army positions, as attributed by the Protection Cluster on January 11, 2022. The region, particularly in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, has also witnessed numerous intercommunal conflicts, contributing to ongoing disputes, Reliefweb reports.

BHRI submitted its written findings and queries to several key figures, including President Évariste Ndayishimiye, Burundi's Minister of Defence Alain Tribert Mutabazi, Chief-of-Staff of the National Defence Force Prime Niyongabo, Deputy Commander of Land Forces Ignace Sibomana, Former Commander of the Burundian contingent in North Kivu Ildephonse Baranyikwa, and the Minister of Defence of the DRC Jean-Pierre Bemba. This was done prior to publication, aiming to incorporate their responses. The sole official to respond was Prime Niyongabo, who expressed interest in a pre-written reply meeting with BHRI.

Burundi has ratified the Geneva Conventions, is obligated to adhere to international humanitarian law, commonly referred to as the "laws of war."