GITEGA March 5th (ABP) – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) met, last week in Gitega (central Burundi), members of the Islamic community of Burundi resident in that province with a view to discussing achievements of that commission and give their proposals.
The CVR-Burundi chairman, Ambassador Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, explained to the participants’ different activities that that commission has already carried out in all the provinces of the country by excavating the bones of the victims of the crises that Burundi has experienced since 1988. That was a moment for the CVR to present, in summary, a film of the various works that that commission has already carried out.
After that session, the president of the CVR asked them to be messengers of peace, love and reconciliation, and also to avoid the globalization of people in the crises that Burundi experienced because, according to him, responsibility must be individual. Lasting peace will not be achieved in the country as long as there is still negative solidarity between people, he said, adding that there will be no peace for the Tutsi if they ignore the Hutu and the Twa and vice versa.
Members of the Muslim community in Gitega welcomed the activities already carried out by the CVR because, they considered, telling the truth constitutes the main means that can help the country know its past, effectively emerge from perpetual crises and achieve sustainable development. They did not forget to mention that Islam has experienced discrimination since colonial times.
Note that the TRC has already exhumed 22,695 victims in 220 mass graves verified and confirmed throughout the country. Karusi, Gitega and Bururi provinces come first. In Karusi, that commission exhumed 7,348 victims in 8 mass graves in Ruvubu, while in Gitega; it exhumed 3,640 victims in 11 mass graves and 2,668 victims excavated in 18 mass graves in Bururi province.