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The CVR focuses on seven dark periods in history leading up to the bloody events of 1972

ByWebmaster

Jun 26, 2022

BUJUMBURA June 27th (ABP) – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR-TRC) organized a press conference on Friday June 24, 2022 to present its half-yearly activities.

According to the Chair of the TRC, Ambassador Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, since January 2022 until today; the TRC works tirelessly to deepen its investigations into the massive human rights violations committed between 1972 and 1973 on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to understand and dissect the arrests, assassinations, massacres and trials from the 1960s to 1971.

According to the chairman of the CVR, understanding the serious violations that bereaved Burundi in 1972 requires an analysis of the violence of previous years. This observation is essential to the CVR today thanks to the results of the investigations in progress and the revelations of the witnesses still alive without forgetting the archives collected. “These investigations lead the investigators to the provinces where the perpetrators and victims of the violence took place, to the villages where the perpetrators and victims of the violence were born. The commission questions the archives and the contemporaries of the victims and the alleged perpetrators to detect a possible link between the political violence of the years 1960-1971 and the genocide committed against the Hutus of Burundi in 1972-1973”. He indicated that the CVR focuses its work on the violence that occurred during seven periods, namely the assassination of unionists of the main leaders of the people’s party in Kamenge in 1962, the assassination of Bishop Gabriel Gihimbare in 1964, the assassination of the Prime Minister Pierre Ngendandumwe on January 15, 1965, the arrests, trials and executions of the alleged perpetrators of the 1965 coup attempt, the 1965 Busangana massacres in Muramvya province and the reprisals against the people of Bukeye following to the Tusti killings, the arrests, trials and executions of the alleged perpetrators of the 1969 coup attempt and the arrests and trials of the alleged perpetrators of the 1971 coup attempt.

        View of the journalists in the news conference

With regard to the assassination of the Hutu union leaders of Kamenge and the main leaders of the people’s party, the investigations of the CVR point the finger at the responsibility of the militants of the Rwagasore Nationalist Youth (the JNR).

The investigations into the assassination of December 13, 1964 of Bishop Gabriel Gihimbare, Catholic prelate and the military chaplain native to the province of Gitega in Giheta commune, are advanced, according to the leader of the TRC. Three versions are currently collected on his assassination, he said.

The first says that he was killed by a corporal soldier who thought the victim was an enemy soldier from outside the country, the second version says that Bishop Gihimbare was killed by a sentry soldier when the prelate opened fire on an antelope he wanted to share with his retinue when he went to a military camp in Kirundo to bid farewell to the soldiers on the eve of the start of his new duties at the bishopric of Gitega, and the third version maintains that Bishop Gihimbare was deliberately assassinated at the instigation of those who were not happy for that appointment.

The investigations into the assassination of Prime Minister Pierre Ngendandumwe on January 15, 1965 are also at a satisfactory stage, according to him. On January 17, 1965, the assassin of Rwandan nationality, Muyenzi Gonzalve, was arrested as well as some alleged Burundian perpetrators holding important responsibilities in the politico-administrative apparatus of the State.

When the case was brought to various courts, the judges concluded that the files were unprepared and that there was no solid evidence. The defendants were released and Muyenzi the alleged assassin left Burundi forever.

According to the chairman of the TRC, the truth about the assassination of Ngendandumwe is slowly but surely coming out of the archives of history, hearings from members of his family, former gendarme officers who knew him and through visits to Kanyinya in Kirundo where he was born.

Regarding the coup attempt at the night of October 18-19, 1965, testimonies and archives speak of a group of insurgents who allegedly attacked the home of Prime Minister Léopold Biha. The latter was riddled with bullets and was left for dead. Another group reportedly attacked King Mwambutsa’s palace.

In the morning of October 19, 1965, Captain Micombero, Secretary of State for Defense, announced that a coup had just been foiled and that the situation was completely under control. The investigations available to the CVR reveal that this violence was surrounded by things left unsaid, according to Ambassador Pierre Claver Ndayicariye. Those executed were first Hutu soldiers and gendarmes accused of having taken part in the coup. Then a travesty of rapid justice indicted exclusively several other civilians and soldiers, all Hutu members of parliament as well as the leaders of the people’s party (PP) and the Christian unions.

The CVR has on this file a letter from the Governor of Gitega dated March 16, 1966 in response to his Minister of the Interior, which shows the extent of the imprisonments and atrocities in Gitega, and which were accompanied by the spoliation of victims’ property. The subject of the letter was “Persons killed in the villages, executed and those still in detention following the events of October 19, 1965”.

The Governor of Gitega was responding to a letter from the Minister of the Interior dated March 4, 1965, in which he asked all provincial governors to send him “the exact census of the people killed in the villages, executed following judgment number RMP35316/ SL/NA-RCG no 1/65, persons currently detained in the prison for the same cause”

As for the 1965 Busangana massacres, several personalities murdered after this 1965 coup attempt came from that region of Busangana, stronghold of leader Paul Mirerekano.

According to Mr. Ndayicariye; the TRC’s investigations into Busangana are moving towards clarifying the ins and outs of this violence.

As for the coup attempt of 1969, the power of President Miche Micombero spoke of a plot to overthrow his power. A few military officers, including commanders Bazayuwundi, Karorero and Katariho who had returned from Belgium, were arrested, tried and executed. 67 Hutu civilians and soldiers were judged, 25 among them to a capital punishment.

The president of the military court who pronounced the sentences is no longer alive; it is Commander Damien Nkoripfa and the Attorney General who investigated the case living in France, it is former Minister Gabriel Mpozagara whom the TRC will try to audition over the next few weeks, according to Ambassador Ndayicariye.

Regarding the case of Jérôme Ntungumburanye or the coup attempt attributed to the Batutsi Banyaruguru; they were mostly from Muramvya and Jenda. The proximity of the file to the violence of 1972-1973 obliges the CVR to plunge its investigations into the antechambers of the arrests of July 6, 1971, according to the chairperson of the CVR.

The trial conducted by Kayibigi on January 24, 1972 resulted in heavy sentences, but President Micombero eventually pardoned the convicted, which aroused much concern in national and international opinion and left a feeling of unease and an impression of “double standards”.