Only thirty soldiers defected since 2015, says Army spokesperson

Colonel Baratuza: “Those who defected were politically motivated”.

The International Crisis Group reported that between 600 and 2,000 soldiers including high-ranking officers have defected since April 2015. According to the report published on 5 April, the fear of being killed reinforces the desertion observed in the Burundian army. The International crisis group also reported that several desertions took place in Ethiopia, Belgium and the Higher Military Institute-ISCAM in 2016.

Colonel Gaspard Baratuza, the spokesperson for the Army, says the number of desertions reported doesn’t jibe with reality. “I don’t know the period when the investigation started. If it were a report dating from the creation of the Burundian Army, the number of defection would be true”, says Baratuza.

The Army spokesperson says at least 30 soldiers have deserted the army since Burundi has plunged into the crisis in 2015. “They followed the chiefs because they were politically motivated”, says Colonel Baratuza. He also says that he does not know why those organizations exaggerated in their report by evoking the defection among the Burundi Army: “Soldiers are united and live in harmony”.

The International organization reported that since April 2015, a political crisis has largely caused desertions, exposed the historical divide in the National Armed Forces, and raised some objections to its participation in International peacekeeping missions.

For the National Human Rights organizations, the military officers suspected of being against the third term of Pierre Nkurunziza have been the target of kidnapping, armed attacks and arrests since the current president announced he would run for a controversial term in April 2015. The soldiers of the former army, commonly known as ex-FABs, are considered by the government to be a recruitment nursery for the rebellion against President Pierre Nkurunziza.

“Throughout Burundi, demobilized and retired soldiers always live in fear of being the victims of the current crisis”, says a human rights defender.