The village of Gatumba lies on the western side of
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
, near the border with the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The place is known for a massacre that took place at a refugee camp connected to the village.
Massacre
On August 13, 2004, a refugee camp in Gatumba was the scene of one of the largest civilian
massacres carried out in Burundi in recent years.
A force of armed combatants, many of them members of the
Forces for National Liberation (FNL), massacred at least 166
Congolese
Congolese or Kongolese may refer to:
African peoples
* Congolese people (disambiguation)
* Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...
civilians and wounded another 106. The FNL is a predominantly
Hutu rebel movement known for its hostility to
Tutsi and the victims were largely
Banyamulenge
Banyamulenge, also referred to as nyamurenge and banyamurenge (literally 'those who live in Mulenge') is the name that they adopted in the 80’s describes a Tutsi community in the southern part of Kivu who migrated from Rwanda and seek refuge in ...
, a group often categorized with
Tutsi. The FNL is believed to have been behind a series of other attacks, including the December 28, 2000
Titanic Express massacre.
Brigadier-General Germain Niyoyankana, head of the Burundian army, accused Congolese troops of complicity in the killings.
Following the FNL's admission of responsibility for the Gatumba massacre, the Burundian government issued arrest warrants for the group's leader,
Agathon Rwasa, and declared its intention to
refer the matter to the
International Criminal Court. The
United Nations issued a resolution condemning the attack, and the
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
declared the FNL a terrorist organisation. No arrests have yet been made.
FNL statement
In October 2005, the FNL issued a statement condemning the Gatumba massacre, denouncing Agathon Rwasa for leading a "descent into hell", and announcing that he had been replaced. Rwasa was reported to have fled to Tanzania.
External links
BBC report on GatumbaHuman Rights Watch report on GatumbaUN Resolution 1602, reiterating condemnation of Gatumba massacre
References
2004 in Burundi
Massacres in Burundi
Populated places in Burundi
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