AFRICA/DR CONGO - The presence of the Burundian militia Imbonerakure is expanding in South Kivu

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Members of the Burundian Imbonerakure militia have camped on the Ruzizi river coast, where they have established at least three camps in the towns of Mwaba, Ngendo and Ndunga, where the Burundi flag has been raised. This is stated in a note sent to Agenzia Fides by the local NGO Dynamique des Intellectuelles d'Uvira (DYTU), in South Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). "Since their arrival in the Ruzizi plain, on the banks of the river of the same name, we have already recorded several cases of human rights violations and intimidation of local civil society activists", says the NGO, according to which the Burundian militiamen have carried out several arbitrary arrests. In particular, DYTU states that "some civil society activists have been victims of rape, arbitrary arrests and detentions. Others have been threatened with suspension of their human rights activities or have been forced to flee". In addition, Burundian militiamen have set up several checkpoints to extort money from passers-by. Since December 2021, the Imbonerakure ("those who watch from afar" in Kirundi), a militia close to the Burundi government, have crossed the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through the Ruzizi plain, in the territory of Uvira , to settle in the highlands, where they clash with the Burundian Tabala Roja rebels and their allies. As a result of these clashes, several villages in Masango and Kitoga have suffered fires, forcing their inhabitants to flee. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 18/2/2022)

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