Burundi: The unspoken on the genocide of the Tutsis in 1993
They were right the members of the commission appointed by Boutros Boutros Ghali to investigate the coup that led to the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye and the genocide of the tutsis that followed. The Committee concluded: ”The Commission considers that the evidence before it is sufficient to establish that acts of genocide were perpetrated in Burundi against the tutsi minority on 21 October 1993 and the following days at the instigation and participation of certain hutu activists and officials of the FRODEBU, including at the municipal level.’
It’s true. The genocide was planned by the members of Frodebu. The administration was, from the bottom to the top, composed by the only members of this presidential party. They were the most active in mobilizing the Hutu to kill all the tutsis; some kicked off themselves. The assassination of Melchior Ndadaye would have been just a pretext, otherwise the genocide was going to happen because it was well planned, hutus were just waiting for a whistle to begin. This testimony of the survivors of Rutegama is telling: “Since the proclamation of the provisional results of the presidential elections on 2 June 1993, the members of the FRODEBU have, in the evening, sounded the alarm to the whistles and drums, they have attacked the tutsis and the hutus upronists, starting with the first municipal secretary of uprona, by insults, intimidation, stone-throwing, threats of expropriation and death. It was necessary for the municipal leader of the FRODEBU, Mr Simeon NTAHONIKORA, on pressure from the municipal administrator, to criss-cross the hills of Rutegama, to instruct the members of his party to stop the threats and the heists, with the password: “Rwa rubanza rwasivye (the case is postponed)’.
Some opinion tries to whitewash Melchior Ndadaye arguing that if the Frodebu planned the genocide of the tutsis in 1993, it would have been done without Ndadaye’s knowledge. False and archaic. Those who put forward these theories want to justify the quality of hero of democracy stuck to Melchior Ndadaye after his death; otherwise, it would be incomprehensible for him to be called a hero after so many hundreds of thousands of tutsis who were killed by members of his party. To say that the planning of the genocide was done without him and without his approval is not at all true because his documentation services (presidential intelligence services) distributed material to be used to kill the tutsis, well before 21 October 1993. Here is a testimony of a survivor of Kayanza: “Already on 18 October 1993, 3 days before the massacres in the commune of Rango , Mr. Ndikumwami Richard, accompanied by Mr. Sendegeya Christian respectively ex-Administrator General of Documentation and Deputy Administrator General of Documentation , had visited the commune of Rango. There, they held a meeting at the parish of Gasenyi during which they revealed that a putsch was being prepared and that the Hutus had to take action by exterminating the tutsis and hutus of the opposition. The two characters had just given the same teachings in other corners as in the capital of Kayanza Province.’
New machetes had also been distributed in other provinces. Chainsaws to cut down trees and block roads, cans of gasoline to burn houses were also distributed among the hutu population of Frodebu.
Did you know that? An old Hutu named Rurankiriza living 100m from Gasenyi/Kayanza parish deserves to be called a hero in place of Melchior Ndadaye. According to the testimonies of Kayanza’s survivors, he took his own life when he saw machetes landed in his house by the former administrator general of the documentation, Mr. Ndikumwami Richard; having echoed the destination of these machetes (to kill the Tutsis), Rurankiriza, who had deep friendships with the tutsis, and, having begged his two sons not to join such acts but obtained from them an end of non-receiving, preferred instead to kill himself instead of witnessing these massacres.
The most extreme extremism was noticed in the famous TANGITATI Melance , teacher at GASERA in Karuzi’s Mutumba commune. The latter is one of the great organizers of the massacre of the tutsis in the SUB-hill BUTAHA. To kick off the killings, he killed his own wife, Therese FUTUGURU, who was tutsie.
These are all facts raised by URN HITAMWONEZA in its aim to show the public the reality about the events that have bereaved Burundi. The S/1996/682 report of 22 August 1996 also mentions the Hutu who would be killed by the military in repression after the tutsi genocide. Our concern is that everyone’s responsibility is established by independent, empowered bodies and that everyone is accountable for their actions. We vehemently oppose mutual coverage in crimes that automatically leads to impunity. All these criminals will one day have to be brought before the courts and punished. This is the only way to hope for lasting peace in our country. WhatsApp contact: +31685638237
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