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  Banderembako, Judith

  Judith Banderembako

  Before the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, Banderembako said her community was filled with neighbors who were always willing to share and help one another. Their peaceful and welcoming way of life was shattered when a soldier arrived with a list of names of people who were to be collected and killed. Banderembako explained that people were snatched from their homes, forced to dig their graves, and then their bodies were tossed into the ground. If the victims refused to dig, the perpetrators would tie their limbs together and throw their bodies into a river. After their death, the victim’s homes were looted, and all their possessions were taken and divided among the perpetrators. She explained that she would appreciate a memorial but remains doubtful that this structure would help Burundians’ heel. Banderembako said she is concerned that the history of the genocide will negatively influence the youth, and she fears their hearts will become tainted with a lack of desire to reconcile. She lost her father, husband, and brother-in-law during this violent attack. However, Banderembako explained that as a Catholic, she must forgive.

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  Bangirinama, Renata

  Renata Bangirinama

  Renate Bangirinama was born in 1940 in Gisovu village, in Kanyosha commune, Bujumbura province. She recounts that during the period of 1972, many people suffered in a way they didn’t know. No gunshots were heard in that war, you could see people being taken away and never coming back. The fugitives stayed away and you could see some repatriates.

  Renate dropped out in fifth grade in elementary school. In 1972, she had been married and she had already given birth to five children, unfortunately only two were alive: one daughter, Budura Marie Ntahimpereye and the son, Melchior Ntahontungiye. Her father died before 1972.

  The tragedy broke out in Rumonge, her husband was the supervisor of road construction, he was employed by a white man named Murekancuro who was from Rwanda, then they went there. Tragedy began in the meeting, they said that they fell asleep and didn’t wake up. The residents of Rumonge woke up, they wore shields in their heads, and swords. That war was called genocide, it opposed hutus against tutsis.

  At that time her husband was at Karonda in Rumonge, they searched him everywhere and he fled to a cassava field in the hole, he ran together with a tiger. They moved there in secret until Tanganyika lake where they took the boat and fled to Tanzania.He fled together with a wife who had twelve children, when the boat began to sink, they threw all things into lake, and that woman threw three of her children into lake. There in exile, they lived badly.

  Renata encountered many problems: perpetrators came to look for her husband, and accused her of having hidden him in the house, they attempted to burn the house, but they didn’t; her mother in law accused her that she made her husband to move away, so she was very mistreated, and she stayed in tears. She decided to close the house and went back to her native family, she stayed there with her children. Her husband’s family members went to take her children by force, she let them go but this shocked her too much. The other problems they encountered that same year was a terrible hunger, a starvation; her children couldn’t get school education because she couldn’t support them. the 1972 tragedy took away a lot of people: her two brothers in law who studied at university: Emmanuel and Bernard; her two sisters who were at secondary school in Rushubi; her two cousins were also killed. The 1972 tragedy targeted hutus, mostly the educated ones.

  After a certain period, she got information that her husband was still alive from a person who was coming from Tanzania. After two and half her husband repatriated but he was not comfortable. They gave birth to five other children, they employed him again in communal office, he was killed in the 1993 war, they shot him, but none of his children knew where he was buried.

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  Banka, Jean

  Jean Banka

  Banka shared that his older brothers were murdered during the 1972 Genocide of Burundi. Banka explained that the militia violently took his brothers from their homes, smashed all their windows, and stole their property. Banka remained in hiding after the perpetrators killed his brothers for fear he would be next on the list to die. When he emerged from hiding, he found out that many other men from their community were also killed. To make this loss even more devastating, Banka was then forced to live among the killers who murdered his family members. He knew the perpetrators who claimed their lives walked freely among them. Banka was not allowed to mourn or inquire about his dead relatives, as this behavior was punishable by death.

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  Banyasekera, Philippe

  Philippe Banyasekera

  Philippe and his 3 other siblings did not attend school, as it was rare to go being Hutu without experiencing harm or death. His father was the first relative closest to Philippe who was captured by the armed forces in Burundi. Philippe’s father was a woodmaker and did construction work for a living. One day on the job, his father and uncle were approached by a man they once had acquaintances with, they even helped construct parts of his home. The man, who goes by the name Bimpenda, tells Philippe’s father that he and his brother are wanted at his office for a discussion, where they assumed he had a job opportunity assorted for them. They arrived and were arrested, packed on military trucks, and taken away. A communal administrator named Nzogera, brought a group along with him and looted Philippe’s whole home, taking 24 of his family's goats. The men responsible for this claimed that they were taking traitors' belongings and how no one deserves them, to justify their actions. That same week, they forced Philippe and his family out of their homes, causing them to move in with their grandfather, on his father’s side. Days later came, where the interior minister ordered them to go back to their homes, but at that point, everything they ever owned was stolen, causing them to go back to nothing but an empty home.

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  Banyikwa, Pascal

  Pascal Banyikwa

  In 1973, when Pascal Banyikwa was just 13 years old, he awoke to gunshots cutting through the Gatoke night sky. He watched in horror as people from his community were taken against their will. They were arrested, blindfolded, and forcefully loaded onto a truck. Banyikwa explained that the perpetrators told the group of hostages they were being taken away for interrogation, but the circumstances and whereabouts remained unknown. Baltozar Baski, who is Banyikwa’s father, was one of the many captives taken away by force in the dark of night and was never to be seen again.

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  Barakirura, Salathiel

  Salathiel Barakirura

  During the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, Barakirura said militia invited all male members of the community to attend a peace meeting held under the guise of ceasing violence between the Hutu and Tutsi. When the men entered the meeting grounds, soldiers invaded the area and slaughtered everyone to death. After the horrific ambush, Barakirura fled to Tanzania while the perpetrators stole his home and his land. Barakirura returned to Burundi in 2008 and has fought to regain his property for almost two decades. He said he is not concerned about discussing who is Hutu and who is Tutsi. He wants Burundians to come together as one and end the ethnic divide.

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  Barantndikiye, Mathias

  Mathias Barantndikiye

  Mathias Barantndikiye said he remembers a group of soldiers circling him and his fellow parishioners after he was walking home from Sunday mass. The soldiers forced them into a where a commander demanded everyone there take out documentation to prove they had all paid their taxes. However, Barantndikiye explained that no one traveled with their paperwork because it was Sunday, a day of rest. He said the militia began to release the men in large quantities. As they were released, Barantndikiye said he saw tractors digging large holes in their community. At first, he thought the digging might be a type of military exercise, only to discover later they were digging mass graves to bury those massacred in the 1972 Genocide of Burundi.

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  Barutwanayo, Vincent

  Vincent Barutwanayo

  Vincent Barutwanayo said soldiers captured his father and four uncles, tied them up with cords, and proceeded to slice them to death with machetes right before his eyes. When Barutwanayo tried to escape the violence, he said soldiers spared his life, but not before holding him down in the street so he could watch his father die. After the attack, Barutwanayo said his suffering only continued to grow. The mothers in the communities were left without fathers and providers for their children. As a result of their deaths, he said homes began to collapse around him. Now, more than 50 years after this gruesome attack, Barutwanayo said the people who ordered his family be murdered are still alive and currently live in the same community with him.

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  Bazompora, Yohani

  Yohani Bazompora

  John Bazompora was born in 1953 in Karamagi village, Kirundo commune and province. In 1972, he was a student in 8th grade. He witnessed the arrests of his father and brother, who were taken away and he never saw them again. According to Yohani Bazompora, he said that what happened in 1972 began even before 1965. In 1965 Rwandan Tutsis fled to Burundi, they advised Burundi Tutsis to get rid of Hutus so that they shouldn’t undergo the same problem as Rwandans because they said they were persecuted by Hutus. From that period Tutsis began to persecute Hutus and then killed them. He was 12 years old, he witnessed Tutsis coming into their house, they beat him severely and still now he feels shock. They beat his father until they broke his eyes and finally they brought him to jail. When they came home, they obliged him to redig a pit which had been found after making bricks used to construct a house. They asked him to pull out a gun, they said that his father had hidden it there, he redug about one meter but they didn’t find it.

  At that time he recounts some other people they took to prison such as; Gasombozo, the local leader; Kanama Raphael, the headmaster; Nonabakize Zacharie, the hospital legislator; Mahombwe Prudence, the merchant and others; those people were not killed at that time, but they were killed after in 1972.

  In 1972, he was a student at Bujumbura, he lived together with his brother Salvator Rucindika who was teacher at Bujumbura; that brother who supported him in his school life was taken when he was in pub, and he never saw him again. He was obliged to drop out of school in order to sustain his family because his father also was taken away to be killed and their things were looted. Among their things looted, there was his father’s new truck and clothings. Local leaders were included in those killing and looting; the administrator Gahima, captain Nyanka, Ndabaneze, the soldier; the authority Ivo who looted their things, etc. They saw cars coming full of Hutus taken away to be killed, Tutsis were sitting on them, and others were under tires.

  During that period, Hutus were targeted but also Tutsis who attempted to help Hutus in that tragedy. Ndayigize Emmanuel was a tutsi, a soldier killed by tutsis because he gave food to a hutu Busongoye Andre from Bwinyana. There was also another Tutsi killed because he helped a Hutu to flee to Kanyaru River. Gapiripiri of cewe was a tutsi killed because he loved Hutus.

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  Bivugire, Evariste

  Evariste Bivugire

  Evariste Bivugire was born in the village of Rurira, Busoni commune in Kirundo province with his 3 other siblings. His father and several accused Hutus from Gitobe and Bwambarang were falsely labeled as “criminals'' engaged in political affairs. They were all placed on packed trucks on their way to imprisonment, which resulted in being killed for many. Because of Bivugire’s father being arrested, he and his siblings were bullied and labeled as a “traitor”. The day his father was put into custody, was the last day he ever saw him again. His father was killed, and two days later, Bivugire’s home was raided and robbed. For years, he and his family were labeled as those who wanted to overthrow the country and its leaders. This resulted in him and his family growing up in fear, grief, and trauma.

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  Bizmana, Thierry

  Thierry Bizmana

  Thierry Bizmana said on April 22, 1972, the militia killed his father and his uncle because they were respected business owners in their community. After the 1972 tragedies, Bizmana explained that living conditions had worsened. He spent several years fleeing the providences of Gitega, Uganda, and Bujumbura. The perpetrators that killed Bizmana’s family ceased their vehicles, homes, and land. For the past 50 years, Bizmana said the people who killed his family are the same people who are part of Burundi’s current ruling power. He said he hopes that the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) continues to do everything in its power to make this mass atrocity public. Bizmana said before the TRC stepped in to help, Burundians were not even allowed to walk or drive near mass graves. He said he knows people want to dismantle the TRC so they can continue to keep their stolen property.

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  Bukuru, Sabina

  Sabina Bukuru

  Sabina attended Notre Dame School but stopped her studies after the fifth grade to help with work at home. She completed her confirmation in 1959 at St. Michael's Catholic Church. Sabina was raised by her aunt after her parents died. She was born in Rweza but did not grow up there. She had two brothers; one was killed during the 1993 crisis, and the other went to Congo and never returned back to Burundi.

  During the tragedies of 1972, Sabina lost her husband, Commander Zacharie Harerimana. Harerimana was a soldier and abroad in Belgium for a work mission. Upon returning to Burundi on April 3, 1972, he was warned by a friend that he would die if he returned. Despite this, he insisted on returning home. On the same day he arrived home, he went directly to give the mission report at work although his friends kept warning him of impending death. He never came back.. Sabina was forced out of their government-provided home in INSS quarter, Avenue Bururi No 45, by officers. They were left homeless, and her husband was later reported dead and Sabina and her children were eventually sent to her father-in-law's house.

  Shortly after the incident, Sabina’s children were separated from her, and she did not know their whereabouts.

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  Buzirigi, Isaie

  Isaie Buzirigi

  Oral history of Isaie Buzirigi.

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  Bwasoni, Rejina

  Rejina Bwasoni

  In the interview, Rejina recounts seeing soldiers arriving in a Jeep at her school. The soldiers took away several teachers and other individuals, including her uncle, Mark Buhinja, who was an agronomist. The interviewee saw the abductions occur and mentioned that the teachers and her uncle were placed into vehicles. After the abductions, Rejina went home and found her family in complete distress. These abductions had deeply affected the community, with her uncle's wife and her mother expressing extreme grief, as anyone who loses a family member tragically would. Unfortunately, the speaker later learned that those taken, including her uncle, were killed. There were also rumors that spread and confirmed reports about the killings, including those who were tied up and transported.

  This resulted in Rejina and her family facing severe emotional distress. She was forced to drop out of school due to the upheaval and the loss of her father, who was also killed. The interviewee's father had been a soldier and was involved in burying bodies before his death.

  She also recounts how the local community and the school treated her and her siblings, by insulting them and facing discrimination. The family's suffering was compounded by the broader political violence and social upheaval of the time.

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  de Dieu Rwasa, Jean

  Jean de Dieu Rwasa

  Jean's father was taken away by authorities when he was just 12 years old. While his father was on his way to do business, in regards to his job as a shop merchant, he was later captured and never seen again. His fathers disappearance resulted in Rwasa having to drop out of school in Kibonde. Like any child would, Rwasa religiously asked the people of his community about his fathers whereabouts, After a month of uncertainty, he was told that his father had disappeared like others who were taken away. It was later revealed to the interviewee that his father had been taken where the “traitors” are placed to be exiled. He and his family fled to Rwanda during a period of unrest. They returned later but did not settle back in Rusarasi due to fears of similar repercussions. Rwasa’s father was a businessman, but after his disappearance, his family did not obtain any belongings left behind from his store in Bunyari. The store had been looted after his capture. The interviewee's life took a different route after his father was captured. He lived among priests for a period, then engaged in selling goats and later pigs until he could afford to build a house.

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  Evariste, Bivugire

  Bivugire Evariste

  Bivugire Evariste was born in the village of Rurira, Busoni commune in Kirundo province with his 3 other siblings. His father and several accused Hutus from Gitobe and Bwambarang were falsely labeled as “criminals'' engaged in political affairs. They were all placed on packed trucks on their way to imprisonment, which resulted in being killed for many. Because of Bivugire’s father being arrested, he and his siblings were bullied and labeled as a “traitor”. The day his father was put into custody, was the last day he ever saw him again. His father was killed, and two days later, Bivugire’s home was raided and robbed. For years, he and his family were labeled as those who wanted to overthrow the country and its leaders. This resulted in him and his family growing up in fear, grief, and trauma.

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  Gahimano, Joséphine

  Joséphine Gahimano

  Josephine Gahimano was born in Nyentaka, Nyagaseke village, Mabayi commune, Cibitoke province. She recounts that 1972 was the year of mass killing. During that year she was studying in fourth grade, she couldn’t continue school education and graduated, she dropped out because her father who supported them was killed. She had five siblings unfortunately they all have died: Ntegamaherezo, their youngest who was driver, he was shot very recently in Mugina, in Gisoko; Hakizimana who died of heart disease; Mama sirene who lived in Bujumbura, Bikorimana and Bigirimana..

  Her father, Ngendandumwe Nasoni was a great merchant, he was killed at Bujumbura when he went to buy a car. Unfortunately, they missed both a car and a person. The tragedy broke out first at Bujumbura, when they heard that the war broke out in Bujumbura, took all items from the shop to home. The shop was full of merchandise. As their father had died, people started to come to rob things at home in Mabayi, so they ran away, their things were looted: bananas, and other goods. A lot of people in Mabayi perished, others fled to Rwanda, they came back after the tragedy. Prosper, Remy the elder who were teachers, and many others were taken to be killed in 1972.

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  Gahutu, Jumayine

  Jumayine Gahutu

  In 1972, Jumayine Gahutu said he heard reports on the radio about the violent attacks happening in Bujumbura. According to Gahutu, people began to speculate that it was only a matter of time until the mascaras made their way through Muyinga. Gahutu said the military would grab male Hutus out of their homes, tie their hands behind their back, and throw them onto a truck. He explained that the victims were then taken to prison to be killed, and their corpses were tossed into a river or dumped into a mass grave. After the bodies were disposed of, Gahutu said the militia would come back to cease all property and vehicles. When violence erupted again in 1993, Gahutu fled to Tanzania for refuge.

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  Girukwigomba, Pasikaziya

  Pasikaziya Girukwigomba

  Pasikaziya Girukwigomba recounts the tragedy of 1972, how she lost her husband and what was happening in her neighborhood. The massacre happened systematically. In the beginning they started killing Hutu soldiers, later they killed civilians. They arrested them, herded them and took them away but the people said nothing. They arrested teachers or any Hutu who worked for the government. And one Tutsi could arrest and take away fifty Hutus. Pascasie's husband was a soldier who left her for work and has not returned to this day. And despite what her husband had at work, Pascasie got nothing and they stole it all. He also owned a shop, they looted it after they killed the shopkeeper. Dead bodies were thrown in deep pits and in rivers. Many were thrown into pits in Bururi. Pascasie lost her brothers, her uncle, her cousins, one of her brothers was a headmaster in Rutovu school, the other was a teacher. They didn't know who killed them. They only know that the Tutsis are the ones who killed the Hutus. During slaughter, some were killed by swords, others were beaten to death. There are those who were taken from prisons and brought outside to be killed. Pasikasiya's husband left her with three children and her life took a bad turn. Although it was hard to survive, she sent her children to school.

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  Hajayandi, Andre

  Andre Hajayandi

  Hajayandi watched in horror as perpetrators invaded his community, setting everything in their path ablaze. He said he will never forget seeing his beloved church rapidly engulfed in flames. Many of Hajayandi’s neighbors lost their homes and businesses during this militia invasion of 1972. Hajayandi, however, lost his brother, cousin and uncle. Hajayandi wants Burundians to return to helping each other instead and come together for the country's greater good. He explained that if there were a memorial built for all victims of the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, it could rejoin the Hutus and Tutsis and become one: Burundians.

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  Hanyurwimfura, Dehogarasiyasi

  Dehogarasiyasi Hanyurwimfura

  Dehogarasiyasi describes the violence beginning on April 29, 1972, firstly sparked by allegations of a rebellion led by Mulele. This rebellion was falsely reported to have started in Rumonge and later spread to more communities. The crisis involved systematic attacks on individuals recognized to be Hutu, including teachers and civil service employees. Those accused were taken away, and their properties were looted..

  Teachers and other Hutu individuals were targeted and arrested. The interviewee's younger brother was a teacher in Murore, Ngozi, and was killed during the crisis. Him and other educators were taken simultaneously. Their whereabouts were unknown, and it was later inferred that they were killed. Dehogarasiyasi recalls how the properties of those arrested were seized and how people’s homes were raided. This included personal belongings, livestock, and land.

  He and his family eventually fled to Rwanda in 1973 due to fears of further violence, only to return later to find that the crisis had continued.

  Dehogarasiyasi’s brother who had not yet married and was in the process of building a house, was among those taken. His belongings were confiscated, and the house was eventually occupied by others.

  Before the crisis, there was a peaceful coexistence between Hutu and Tutsi communities. However, the crisis created divisions, and Hutu individuals were labeled as "rebels" and targeted. The social fabric was severely disrupted as trust was eroded and violence became rampant.

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  Hatunga, Remejiyo

  Remejiyo Hatunga

  Remejiyo recalls a traumatic situation from his childhood when his father was forcefully taken away by authorities while he was working in his home as a carpenter. The police arrived to ask him to come to the commune for questioning. Despite some initial hesitation, he agreed to go. The interviewee vividly remembers the details: the police in khaki clothes similar to shoes and a specific type of hat, the location (Murore), and the events leading up to his father's arrest. After his father was taken away, Remejiyo's family heard that he was loaded onto a dump truck with others and taken away. This was the last time they ever saw their father again.

  Following their father's arrest, the family faced additional hardships. Their home was later looted by thieves, taking a new bicycle and 18 goats. Having witnessed these events, the interviewee explains how it caused him to feel powerless and afraid to speak out due to fear of the authorities returning for them, just as they had taken his father.

  Remejiyo also mentions the emotional impact on his family, especially his mother who struggled to take care of them, without their fathers support. After this incident with his father being captured, Remejiyo would hear cruel comments from others speculating about his father's fate and mocking his hope that he might return.

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  Hatungimana, Marceline

  Marceline Hatungimana

  When Marcelin Hatungimana was 8 years old, she received news that the militia had killed her two older brothers. As she struggled to process the death of her siblings, she then found out that teachers were being taken out of schools and slaughtered. As the violence grew, Hatungimana’s liberties dwindled. Her mother, father, and brothers were all killed during the 1972 Genocide of Burundi. She had no choice but to leave school and focus on surviving. She would go for long walks to identify plants she could pick and sell to support herself. Hatungimana physically survived the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, but she never returned to pursuing her education.

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  Hicuburundi, Athanase

  Athanase Hicuburundi

  Athanase Hicuburundi lost his brother in 1972. On April 29 a meeting was organized at Rumonge and the leaders urged everyone’s attendance. At that time anyone who didn’t go could be jailed. Although Hicuburundi was a teacher at Minago, he didn’t attend the meeting. Those who went there came running and said that a small group of armed men with machetes, called Mulele attacked the meeting. The killings continued on Monday. The soldiers ran into the roads and villages killing Hutus. The students who went to school returned saying that the headmaster had been killed. People became scared, most of them fled to the priest's compound but the soldiers arrested them later. They packed into a truck and transported them to the market of Minago to dump them into the pit dug by construction machines. In that period they mostly arrested Hutus who were teachers and salesmen. Soldiers came to arrest Hicuburundi but they didn't find him, and he decided to run away to Congo. They killed his small brother Simbananiye and his nephew Ntangibingura. The head of village Ntagumuka is among the perpetrators who killed many people. All the people who owned lands were killed by him. He then plundered their lands. Hicuburundi’s brothers didn't continue to study; they dropped out of school. The communal administrator called Nyambere is one of the perpetrators who persecuted many people in Rumonge.

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  Icobaragiye Ramadhan, Saleh

  Saleh Icobaragiye Ramadhan

  During the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, Icobaragiye said he was almost murdered during a militia roadblock. He attributes being alive today to football. Icobaragiye explained the governor immediately recognized him as a champion footballer and spared his life. However, other male Hutus, including Icobaragiye’s father, were less fortunate. They did not survive the roadblock. Some Hutus were killed on the spot, while he said others were tied and tossed into a nearby river to drown to death. After Icobaragiye narrowly escaped death, he hid in his home for 3 months. He said he told as many people to flee as possible before migrating to a refugee camp.