The Republic of Martyazo (french: République de Martyazo) was a short-lived secessionist state proclaimed by Hutu rebels at

Vyanda Vyanda is a town and seat of the Commune of Vyanda in Bururi Province in southern Burundi. It has a population of 29,685 and by road it is located 34.9 kilometres southeast of Bururi and 13.2 kilometres northeast of Kigwena. Overview On 29 April ...

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 ...

at the province of Makamba in the early May 1972 during the genocidal violence of 1972 as a bid to create a political base. At first, the state was located inside the mountainous Vugizo commune, between Makamba and

Nyanza Lac Nyanza Lac is a city in southern Burundi, in Makamba Province. The city is located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, to the south of Mutambara and close to the border with Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzan ...

. However, it quickly expanded to its surroundings, even reaching the border with Tanzania. A few days after the republic was declared, forces of the Tutsi-dominated government of

Michel Micombero Michel Micombero (26 August 194016 July 1983) was a Burundian politician and army officer who ruled the country as ''de facto'' military dictator for the decade between 1966 and 1976. He was the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Burundi from ...

occupied the region, ending the rebellion and the existence of Martyazo. The number of people to have perished in the rebellion is believed to have ranged between 800 and 1200. Because of the nature of the government and the rebellion, many killed were Tutsi hostages held in plantations in the area tried by the self-proclaimed "people's courts" established in the secessionist state. Academics have dubbed the state "mysterious"René Lemarchand, ''The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa'', p. 136 and "ephemeral"Jean-Pierre Chrétien & Jean-François Dupaquier, ''Burundi 1972, au bord des génocides'', pp. 89-90 because of a lack of reliable information on it. Owing to its life span of little more than a week, no formal government structures were ever established in Martyazo.

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