Uncovering mass graves in Gitega
The briefing Issue #53, Friday, March 6, 2020
Dear Readers
he Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) officially started on Thursday, March 05, 2020, the exhumation of human remains in four pits discovered on Mashitsi hill, very close to the Institute of Agronomic and Zootechnical Research (IRAZ) in Giheta commune of Gitega province.
The CVR was informed by the population about the existence of 4 mass graves behind the buildings of IRAZ, and date from April, May, June, July 1972 according to witnesses. According to the President of the CVR Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, these mass graves contain human remains of the people killed in 1972.
P. Claver Ndayicariye informed that on Mutobo hill in Giheta commune, there are two new confirmed mass graves. The eyewitnesses still alive on this hill say that these mass graves may contain at least twenty trucks of people killed in 1972.
Other mass graves were also identified and confirmed on Muremera hill in Nyabunyovu on the way towards Bugendana. During the discovery of these mass graves, and during the verifications, the CVR was with the NGO Impunity Watch as an eyewitness.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) was set up in 2014 to investigate atrocities from 1885, when foreigners arrived in Burundi, to 2008, when a stalled peace deal to end the civil war was fully implemented. So far, it has mapped more than 4,000 mass graves across the country and identified more than 142,000 victims of violence.
Fabrice Iranzi
RegionWeek.com
IN THE REGION
Each year on the 8th of March, the World celebrates International Women’s Day. It is an opportunity for the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and its partners to join the rest of the World in taking stock of women’s achievements throughout history and across nations.
This years’ International Women’s Day, themed “I am Generation Equality: Women’s Rights”, with #EachforEqual, IWD 2020 as the Campaign Hashtag was celebrated at the EAC Secretariat with over 200 participants in attendance from across the EAC on the 6th March 2020. The celebration reflected on the progress made on women’s rights and the promotion of generation equality in the EAC region and across the world.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Social Affairs at the Secretariat, Ms. Mary Makoffu, EAC Secretary General, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko said that EAC had adopted, among other things, a program to mainstream gender and promote the rights of women in all EAC policies and programs, and in regional and continental instruments.
Amb. Mfumukeko said that in order to facilitate the implementation of the program, EAC had developed a Regional Strategy for Mainstreaming Gender in the EAC Structures, Organs and Institutions, a Training Manual Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming, and an EAC Gender Policy, that gives direction on Gender equality, equity and non-discrimination within the Community.
IN THE HEADLINES
South Sudanese and Ugandan authorities have temporarily shut their border crossing point at Nimule after passenger bus operators staged a demonstration to protest the beating of their colleague. Bus drivers, most of whom operate transboundary vehicles, said on Friday that money changers at the border assaulted their colleague identified as Gabulyeri Ngabirano.Mr. Nyabirano operates Trinity Bus Service.“This incident happened at 8.30 am when all buses were cleared by the two borders, setting off for Juba,” Odocke Richard, Trinity conductor said. (DailyNation)
Kenya named two coastal towns and its capital Nairobi among the regions at high risk of coronavirus outbreak, according to local media reports. The border regions in the western and north-eastern parts of the country are also at risk, according to Kenya’s head of disease surveillance, Dr. Daniel Lang’at. Nairobi is named because of hosting the country’s main airport, while the coastal towns of Mombasa and Kilifi have a high influx of tourists. Kenya is yet to record any confirmed cases of the coronavirus.(Africanews)
President Yoweri Museveni and Turkish Ambassador to Uganda have discussed the threat of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.“I have spoken to his excellency Yoweri Museveni who clearly stated those who use weapons against civilians are terrorists,” Kerem Alp, Turkey’s ambassador to Uganda, told Anadolu Agency. Alp said Turkey has a common understanding with Uganda that U.S.-based FETO leader Fetullah Gullen is a terrorist and his organization killed and injured many people in Turkey, as they attempted to overthrow the government. The diplomat said there were some FETO followers who had sought to hide in Uganda and were working in schools or hospitals. (Pmldaily)
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