More than 500 soldiers of the Burundian army (FNDB) have been thrown behind bars for refusing to fight alongside the Congolese army FARDC, according to reports by Radio Publique Africaine based in Burundi.
According to a detailed report by RPA radio, these Burundian troops were repatriated after having retreated and without support in the face of the advance of the M23 (7-9 December).
“They were attacked, then they went to take refuge at the Brigade and they found that even those who were there had also fled. So, they continued, hoping to be able to take refuge where the EAC military troops were. But there too, it was impossible for them to go there for fear that the M23 would attack these EAC troops. They continued the road to the runway of Goma airport. They stayed there and the leaders came to tell them to return to the front where they came from. But, they refused,’’ RPA radio quoted a relative of one of the soldiers who specified that afterwards, the fleeing soldiers were told to wait there for a plane to come and take them. It was around 4:30 p.m. that they left for Bujumbura. There were 10 dead and 18 injured on board.
Trouble Awaited Soldiers in Bujumbura
Upon arrival in Bujumbura, trouble opened up for these soldiers. They were stripped of their phones and taken by force to the Muzinda military camp.
According to information in the possession of the families, the soldiers repatriated from Thursday to Saturday have been detained since Sunday, December 10 at the 122nd battalion of Mujejuru, the military police battalion of Rohero in Bujumbura, the combat engineering battalion of Muzinda and the 112th battalion of Cibitoke.
“It was through information provided by other soldiers that we were able to learn their fate. The latter said that as soon as they arrived, they took away their cell phones, put them in trucks and transported them to Muzinda escorted by a military police pick-up.”
Families continue to seek information from their military sources.
“People who are detained at the military police or at Mujejuru are often considered criminals. I hope that our soldiers are not taken for criminals. Military leaders must come out of their silence to tell us where our children are and how they are doing. We don’t even know if ours are among the 10 dead or the 18 injured,’’ Insisted a source quoted by RPA radio.
Humiliating conditions of detention
As soon as they arrived last Saturday at the Muzinda combat engineering battalion, more than 120 soldiers were disarmed and stripped of their Congolese military clothing.
Since then, they have remained in their underwear and crowded into a meeting room in this camp. They spend the night in this heavily guarded room without mosquito nets or sleeping bags in this region where mosquitoes abound. They are not allowed to have a visit.
At the 122nd battalion in Mujejuru, the same treatment was reserved for the soldiers kept there. There, they spend the night and the day shivering in the harsh cold.
Since this Sunday, more than 150 soldiers, including more than 15 officers, have been detained at the Rohero military police battalion.
They too were disarmed and stripped of their Congolese military clothing and suffered the same fate as their brothers-in-arms detained in Mujejuru and Muzinda.
At the 112th battalion in Cibitoke, more than 200 soldiers are heavily guarded there. But, the latter refused to return the Congolese weapons and military uniforms as long as they did not receive Burundian weapons and military uniforms in return.
