Burundian soldiers deployed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have “raped and abused Congolese civilians”, a Burundian human rights NGO accused on Friday December 15, calling on the authorities to conduct “credible investigations”.
“Since the end of 2021, members of the Burundian army (…), have raped and mistreated Congolese civilians in South Kivu”, in the east of the DRC, assured the Initiative for Human Rights in Burundi (IDHB), claiming that these actions were committed “out of public view, without any control or responsibility”.
Numerous armed groups and militias have been active for three decades in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a legacy of the regional wars that broke out in the 1990s and 2000s. For several years now, Burundian armed forces have been conducting joint operations with Congolese forces in the east.
According to the Burundi Human Rights Initiative, in September 2022 “Burundian soldiers raped a Congolese woman and her 16-year-old sister-in-law, in front of her three children”. The IDBH also accused members of the Burundian ruling party’s youth league, the Imbonerakure, of having “abducted, arbitrarily detained and ill-treated Congolese civilians, and looted their property”.
For the human rights NGO, “international actors” should put pressure on the Burundian authorities, in particular President Évariste Ndayishimiye, “to hold their troops to account”. President Évariste Ndayishimiye, Burundi Defense Minister Alain Tribert Mutabazi and his counterpart in the DRC, Jean-Pierre Bemba, did not respond to requests from the NGO. While the international community has welcomed a degree of openness in the country since Evariste Ndayishimiye came to power in June 2020 following the sudden death of Pierre Nkurunziza, a UN commission of inquiry stated in September 2021 that the human rights situation in Burundi remained “disastrous”.
Several hundred Burundian soldiers from the East African force deployed in eastern DRC withdrew from the region last week Sunday, after Kinshasa decided not to renew its mission, deeming it ineffective. However, Burundian soldiers are still present under bilateral agreements.
