AFRICA - Could the massacre of Congolese refugees in Burundi in mid August be one of the causes for the increasingly precarious situation in Burundi and Congo? An authoritative opinion

Friday, 3 September 2004

Rome (Fides Service)- “African massacres, tribal massacres”. How often the western media dispose of yet another massacre of innocent civilians in this way, offering no help towards discerning the reasons for what would appear to be incomprehensible violence. With the help of missionaries and people of good will Fides is trying to find out why 166 Congolese refugees (mostly women and children) were murdered during the night of 13 August in Gatumba camp in Burundi.
Several hundreds of people had taken refuge in this camp to escape the violence in South Kivu (eastern region of Democratic Congo) where there is fighting between the regular army troops and rebels led by Col. Mutebutsi and Gen. Nkunda. The rebels are former members of RCD (Congolese Union for Democracy), the main rebel group in Congo, mostly Banyamulenge Tutsi of Rwandan origin who settled in Congo decades ago. Many of the refugees in Gatumba camp were Banyamulenge, but according to Fides’ sources there were also people of different ethnic groups.
The camp, situated a few kilometres from the capital Bujumbura and not far from the border with Congo lies midway between two military centres (a police barracks and a camp of Burundian infantry). Naturally one wonders why these forces failed to intervene to prevent the massacre. The FLN (National Liberation Forces) composed of Burundian Hutu guerrillas has claimed responsibility for the killing explaining its attack with the fact that among the refugees in Gatumba camp there were armed men who had previously attacked their camps. So the massacre appears to have been an action of retaliation. However Banyamulenge leaders refuse to accept this explanation and claim the perpetrators of the slaughter were connected with Congolese army. They blame Mai, Mai militia (a local Congolese groups allied at times with the central government) backed by Interahamwe (Rwandan Hutu militia responsible for genocide in 1994 who have been hiding in east Congo for some time) and supported by the FLN. According to reliable Fides’ sources in Burundi “FLN’s implication in the killing is undeniable since it claimed responsibility. Seeing that FLN has regional connections with several groups in Congo, other elements could very well have been involved”.
“Apart from the responsibility of more than one group, what is alarming is an attempt to use the Gatumba massacre to revive the war in eastern Congo” say Fides sources in southern Kivu. Burundi and Rwanda have threatened to invade eastern Congo to protect the Banyamulenge, while prominent figures in Democratic Congo say the country’s transition process has stalled.
The massacre of Congolese refugees must be viewed in a regional context in which Burundi and Congo are in an extremely delicate situation. Both countries have peace agreements which foresee a transition government charged with preparing for free national elections. The vote in Burundi is scheduled for October and tension rises as the date approaches. The massacre of Congolese refugees in Burundi has sparked even more tension in Congo and in Burundi. What is needed is an impartial investigation on the part of the international community to ascertain the circumstances and responsibilities for the Gatumba slaughter and prevent extremist forces of both sides from exploiting the crime to derail the peace process in the Great Lakes region. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 3/9/2004 righe 49 parole 633)


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