The Burundian National Defense Force and police committed at least 47 extrajudicial executions between December 30, 2014, and January 3, 2015, following a clash with an armed group in the northwestern province of Cibitoke, Human Rights Watch said today. Armed members of the ruling party’s youth league also participated in the killings.
“The Burundian security forces have a responsibility to defend citizens against violence, but that cannot mean murdering those they have detained,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “It appears that members of the military and police made no effort to arrest most of the men who surrendered, shooting them dead instead.”
The killings in Cibitoke are part of a broader pattern of extrajudicial executions by Burundian security forces and members of the ruling party’s youth league, going back several years. The victims have included many civilians, as well as members of armed groups and other suspected opponents. The executions in Cibitoke are one of the largest incidents of this kind in recent years.
The limited information available on the armed group suggests its members crossed into Burundi from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo in late December. Witnesses and military officials described the men as well-armed. Some members of the group who were arrested told Human Rights Watch that their objective was to establish a base in the Kibira forest, east of Cibitoke, from which to “wage war” on the Burundian government.
On the morning of December 30, there was a confrontation between the Burundian military and police and the armed group in the town of Rwesero. Members of the armed group scattered into Murwi and Bukinanyana communes, where fighting continued for four or five days. In early January, scores of members of the armed group surrendered to the military, to the police, or to residents who handed them over to local authorities.
The military and police, assisted by members of the youth league of the ruling party – known as the Imbonerakure – executed most of those who surrendered. Human Rights Watch travelled six times to Cibitoke over 17 days in January and spoke with more than 50 people, including 32 witnesses to the killings, members of the armed group in detention, and local government officials. Human Rights Watch documented the killing of at least 47 members of the armed group by the military, police, and Imbonerakure between December 30 and January 3.
The spokesman for the National Defense Force told journalists on January 5 that 95 members of the armed group, as well as two soldiers and two residents, were killed during the clashes, and that 9 members of the armed group were captured and arrested. Other members of the group were arrested later. 14 were still in Cibitoke prison in early February. The spokesman denied anyone was killed after surrendering.
The first executions took place on December 30, in the town of Rwesero, in Murwi commune, witnesses told Human Rights Watch. “I saw four rebels captured,” one witness said. “They had their hands tied behind their backs. The police and the Imbonerakure beat them. Soldiers were there too…The police were furious and told the population to leave. When we walked away, I heard between 5 and 10 shots.”
On January 1, military and police shot dead six members of the armed group on the edge of the Kaburantwa river, between Ngoma and Rugano hills, witnesses said. A resident who watched the killings from Rugano said: “At around 4 p.m. I went down to the river and saw six bodies together. They had all been shot in the head.”
On January 2, soldiers and police shot dead 17 captured members of the group in Kibindi forest, near Mpinga, in Murwi commune. Witnesses said the fighters surrendered in small groups. Then soldiers and police lined them up at the top of a cliff and shot them. Some fell off the cliff as they were shot, the witnesses said. The soldiers, police, and Imbonerakure pushed the other bodies off the cliff and Imbonerakure went down to confirm they were dead. Imbonerakure and local inhabitants buried the bodies later.
“The soldiers walked the men to a cliff above the road,” one resident said. “Other soldiers in trucks arrived from the main road and came to where we were. They shot at the rebels immediately. The rebels did not have time to say much.”
Residents described how three local government officials – in Ngoma, Kalema, and Murwi – either participated in killings or handed over captured members of the armed group to the police or Imbonerakure, who then killed them. Human Rights Watch interviewed all three, who denied involvement.
“On December 31 a rebel gave himself up [to a local government official],” a witness from Kalema said. “As he surrendered, the local population, including me, followed at some distance. When he got to the local government office, [the official] shot him.”
In Murwi, a witness watched as a local government official handed over a captured fighter to two police officers on January 1. The police officers and a local Imbonerakure then killed the fighter. “I followed the police,” the witness said. “They stopped at a parking area. The population was saying, ‘Don’t kill this man!’ An Imbonerakure was there and he insisted on killing the rebel. He said that to the police and to the population. The police allowed the Imbonerakure to accompany them. He left with the police and we heard shots some minutes later.”
Source: HRW
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