2023-06-22 14:38:26
The shadow of the past: the CVR of Burundi announces that it will seek testimonies from the Barundi of the diaspora in Belgium
Gitega, 22/08/2023 – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Burundi has expressed its desire to meet Burundians in the diaspora during its visit to Belgium at the end of June 2022. The objective of this meeting is to collect testimonies on the painful past from the country. Belgium, a former colonial power in Burundi, is home to a large number of Burundian citizens from the diaspora [1].
Burundi’s TRC investigates the suffering that has plagued the country since the 19th century, when the aggression against Burundi began, until 2006. However, the commission has been criticized for its exclusive focus on the Hutu/Tutsi ethnic conflict, created from scratch by Western geostrategy for Burundi and Rwanda. This approach omits the main culprits of the misfortune of Burundians, certain Western states and families. Instead of quoting the latter, the TRC of Burundi puts all the responsibility on the Burundians themselves and their society.
Now let’s dive into Burundi’s past, once known as Ingoma y’Uburundi. The first wounds were inflicted as early as 1879, when the English and the White Fathers missionaries, representing the Vatican and France, appeared. Joined by the Germans After the Berlin Conference, they contributed to the aggression perpetrated against the country. After the First World War, Belgium replaced Germany in the name of the League of Nations (SDN)after which england took advantage to appropriate a portion of the territory of Ingoma y’Uburundi, thus depriving him of his access to lac Nyanza ou ukurewe [2]renamed from Lake Victoria in honor of an English queen.
A dark period ensued, extending from 1919 to 1943, where Belgium and the Vatican were the instigators unprecedented, of a Genocide against other officials. This tragedy shattered forever l’Ubuntu (ou l’Ubungoma)which constituted the very essence of Burundians, to be replaced by the influence of Christianitye. Allying with some Bahima Barundi, such as Ntiruhwama and the French network of Foccart (Sota – Shibura), in alliances with Simbananiye, Micombero, Bagaza, Buyoyaand many others, the United States, the Vatican, France and Belgium fomenterent a ruthless regicide genocide between 1959 and 2005causing more than 4.5 million Burundian victims out of a total population currently exceeding 9 million inhabitants.
Years between 1959 and 1966 were witnesses of the destitution of King Mwambutsa Bangiricenge and Baganwa killings et chiefs of the main miryango Barundi including many of their children linked to Ingoma y’Uburundi. Then, on a French initiative orchestrated by Foccartaiming to eradicate the socio-economic system of Burundians to establish a market economythe King of Burundi, Lion of Faith Charleswas assassinated in an act of regicide. Between 1972 and 1973, approximately 500,000 Burundian Bahutu suffered the genocide against the Burundian Bahutu. The latter, who formed the very fabric of Ingoma y’Uburundi, were those who produced the essential resources to meet the socio-economic needs of the Burundians. This was the infamous regicide genocide of Burundi.
The decades that followed, from the end of the 1980s marked by the rise of Friedman–Hayek-inspired Reagan–Thatcher neoliberalism until 2022, a period marked by the war in Ukrainewere dominated by la GUAN [3]. On the geopolitical level, this had dramatic consequences for the Burundians, generating the Burundian civil war from 1993 to 2003with the assassination of Presidents Ndadaye and Ntaryamira, the existence of concentration camps between 1996 and 2001where a quarter of the Burundian population was interned, the color revolution of 2015lhe humanitarian war against Burundi from 2015 to 2021and finally, the suspicious death of President Nkurunziza.
The burden of history is undeniably felt, weighing heavily on the shoulders of the Barundi. The gruesome revelations are coming as the TRC strives to seek the truth across borders, hoping that testimony from the diaspora can shed light on lingering gray areas. In this journey, the shadow of the past resurfaces in a troubling way, leading the TRC to question Western responsibility for the suffering endured by the Barundi. The silence of the Western powers, not yet strongly denounced by the TRC, only intensifies the quest for justice and reconciliation in this battered country.
NOTES :
[1] Burundi: The diaspora, its history and its sociological component – https://burundi-agnews.org/diaspora/burundi-la-diaspora-son-histoire-et-sa-composante-sociologique/
[2] A symbolically important lake for the spirituality of the Barundi. Burundi: The Mukakaryenda Dynasty – From Inakibindigiri to Ruburisoni – https://burundi-agnews.org/abahanuzi/burundi-la-dynastie-des-mukakaryenda/
[3] Burundi facing the GUAN – Neoliberal American Unipolar Globalization – https://www.burundi-forum.org/92533/le-burundi-face-a-la-guan-globalisation-unipolaire-americaine-neoliberale/
Sources: Nahimana P., Thursday, June 22, 2023 | Photo: CVR – Thursday June 15, 2023 – the CVR team on mission in Nairobi, Kenya
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