Burundi: Forced disappearances and murders

Human rights violations are widespread in Burundi, a small country that borders the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. For years, Burundi has been largely isolated from the outside world. But recently, the Burundian bishops called attention to the country’s plight.

For decades, Burundi, a small African country with a population of about 13 million people, has been shaken by a security crisis. In 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern “about allegations of forced disappearances and killings of political activists and journalists carried out by the security forces and pro-government groups” in Burundi.  

These human rights violations usually take place out of the public eye. Recently, however, Burundi’s Catholic bishops denounced conditions in a public “message of peace,” which has made available to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): “The realization that there are people in our country who are cruelly murdered or abducted and disappear for political reasons or other macabre interests makes one shudder. If a person is arrested by the competent authorities, justice must be administered in accordance with the law; the person must be held in a place that is known and accessible to family members.”

Climate of mistrust

The bishops warn against a culture of impunity for wrongdoing: “If impunity becomes entrenched in society, people lose confidence in the justice system, thus leading to the risk of becoming discouraged, taking the law into their own hands, and committing crimes.”

With an impassioned appeal to those who “harbor the desire to shed the blood of peaceful citizens in order to give voice to their ideology or to seek political power,” they call on them to “sheathe their swords and set about building the nation by adopting ways that respect the dignity of human beings and favoring dialogue and consultation.”

“Burundi has a very painful history, characterized by massacres, murders, social conflicts, and violence,” says Maxime François-Marsal, ACN’s project manager for the French-speaking countries in Central Africa, who visited the country in 2023. “There is a climate of mistrust everywhere in the country, even among friends and family.”

To support the education of those who will shape the life of the Church and the development of the country, ACN has contributed to more than 200 projects in Burundi over the past ten years, focusing on the training of priests, catechists, and religious sisters, and support for various pastoral activities.

“Our work seeks to spread the Gospel message so that people can resist the temptation of violence. Let us pray that all those with responsibility in the country will listen to the voice of their conscience, that the message of the Gospel will be heard, and that the people in Burundi, who long for peace, will be able to live in safety once again.”

Burundi has been a site of bloody conflict since the end of colonial rule in 1962. But in 2015, the situation came to a head when then-president Pierre Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third term in office. This plan, which violated the constitution, led to protests throughout the country. Since then, the authorities have taken harsh measures against civil society and the media, particularly when the country’s conditions are criticized.

—Sina Hartert