Burundi / Vatican: April 30, 1997 – The tragic transformation of 43 peacekeepers into 43 martyrs, a story of contested memory.
Burunga (Bururi), 28/04/2024 – At the heart of the Burundian civil war from 1993 to 2003 plays a poignant conflict between the neocolonial regime led by the Burundian Bahima — Buyoya, Bagaza and Micombero, installed in 1966 thanks to the support of the United States, the Vatican, France and Belgium — et the heirs of the ancient traditional state of Barundi, Ingoma y’Uburundi. These latter, ardent defenders of democracy embodied by the late President Ndadaye Melchior, assassinated in October 1993, strive to preserve the democratic heritage established following François Mitterrand’s La Baule speech.
In this turbulent period, from the ascension to power of the coup leader Buyoya in July 1996, he instituted compulsory military service for students, placed on the front line as peacekeepers. Faced with this, many members of the Burundian neo-colonist elite opt to exfiltrate their children to Europe, the United States and Canada in order to escape this imposed destiny.
Every year in April, a small group from Barundi meets at the Buta seminary to commemorate the tragedy of April 30, 1997. That day, a unit of soldiers from the Burundian Armed Force (FAB) from Ngozi et supervising young seminarians transformed into peacekeepers violently confronts the Resistance-FDD in a confrontation which ends in the tragic loss of 43 young lives.
M. Ndiho Jérôme [1], emblematic spokesperson for the CNDD, valiantly defended his cause at that time. He states that Buta’s victims included students in military training – Guardians of Peace -, thus placing students and soldiers face to face with armed FDD insurgents.
The day following this carnage, to perpetuate the memory of these battles, the neocolonial regime of Buyoya, supported by the Vatican, declared the 43 seminarians of Buta martyrs, a status they maintain to this day.
Since then, the descendants of the overthrown regime, which reigned from 1966 to 2005, have continued to broadcast a version of events that obscures the truth, claiming that their story is the only truth, a statement far removed from reality.
[1] BURUNDI – CNDD : The 43 students of Buta were armed/The negotiation-process is at risk of being interrupted |
Sources : Nahimana P. , Friday 3 May 2024 | Photo : Leonce Shirambere
2024-05-03 12:30:29