An inhabitant of Buheka area, Kazirabageni zone, Nyanza Lake commune, Makamba province in the south of the country was arrested by the police on 16 July for having disinterred human remains. He discovered a mass grave while working in his field. Human rights activists demand that he be released.
Mass grave discovered in Rusaka commune, Mwaro province, in central Burundi
Ciza Dartagnan is accused of having disinterred the remains of the dead. He, however, rejects the accusation by explaining that he was working in his field when he accidentally fell on a mass grave in which many people were buried.
He indicates that he is not involved in the crimes of these people claiming that he had fled Burundi since 1972 and returned to the country in 2009. For Ciza, these people were killed when he was not in Burundi. Ciza’s family and human rights activists demand that he be released immediately.
Sake Mathieu, chairman of the human rights organization ACPDH, believes that Ciza should not be detained since according to him, he has the right to do whatever he wants in his field. “He is accused of anything. The police can conduct investigations while he is free, “says Sake. He asks for Ciza’s release.
According to sources in Nyanza-Lac, the people whose remains have disinterred would be killed in 1996 during armed clashes between Burundi army and CNDD-FDD rebel movement that occurred in the areas of Rukambasi, Buheka and Kiderege.
Buheka residents and human rights activists in the province call on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the circumstances, in which those people were killed, identify them and the perpetrators of the crimes.
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