Niyungeko, Paul

Niyungeko, Paul

Paul Niyungeko

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Interviewee Age

Born on April 4, 1964

Interviewee Gender

Male

Interviewee Level of Education in 1972

Was in school

Geographical Location(s) during the genocide

Kinama Village, Buyengero commune , Bururi Province

Current Geographical Location

United States in the State of New York

Interview Date

2-25-2022

Interviewer Name

Dr. Jeanine Ntihirageza, Northeastern Illinois University - Center for Genocide and Human Rights Research in Africa and the Diaspora (GHRAD)

Summary of Oral History

Paul Niyungeko was born in 1964, in Kinama district in Buyengero commune; it is at the border area between Buyengero commune and Songa commune which is commonly called Songa Manyoni. He started primary school at Mudende, in the 1972 tragedy, he moved to study at Rumonge, after that year he returned back to Mudende school where he studied until the sixth grade. He was oriented to the school he really longed for, Teacher training School of Rutovu, called “Ecole Normale de Rutovu” where he studied from seventh to 14th grade with a D7 diploma.

In... 72  many students dropped out of schools including Paul’s siblings, some parents said, "These atrocities have taken so many people; if we send all our children to school we might lose all of them as we have lost other friends and relatives." What Paul remembers is that in 1972 what brought fear and panic was a rumor saying that there were people who were burning the party’s permanences, the Uprona party, and then some permanences which were near their locality were burned.

The other thing he remembers is that it was reported that there was an administrator called Bourgmestre Kimaka who was killed in Rumonge near the market; then it was said that there were people who invaded named “Mayi Mulele”. They said that the invaders came with machetes, that even the guns could not shoot them while they were saying, “Amazi masa Mayi Mulele” As it was said, “These kinds of people were the ones who invaded”, but what they realized, they did not see anyone who was called Mayi Mulele. They heard it as a rumor, but what Paul witnessed, there were people who were arrested, bound and he heard that others were taken to the location called Gitandu. There were also reports that some of them were taken to Manyoni in the current commune of Songa, those who arrested them did not take them back, and no one returned. There were their neighbors who were arrested.

He remembers a story that hurts him all the time, there was his neighbor, Mujegetera, who was arrested and they put him in something called a barn (A barn was a loft weaved in the palm branches and then, which is as long as one can sleep in as he sleeps on a boat or in a dock), they tied his hands and feet, the man had a mustache and then they brought a fire starter and burned his beard and then they took him away. When the situation was worse they escaped and fled into the bush, sometimes they hid themselves especially in the fields of beans and cassava. He remembers how they could see a plane hovering over them, when their parents saw it over them, they could see that they were crying out for help with great fear, they raised three fingers, Three of Uprona.

During that period there were many victims: students who were in boarding schools, the parents were worried that theirs would not come and that there are many who have been massacred at school, they did not come back and did not return anymore. Among those pupils were Pontien, Pierre, and others. Students at different schools in the country were killed, others were said to be kidnapped by soldiers, and others arrested on the way home.

Paul’s father, who was a catechist once went on God’s mission, when he returned, a gunman stopped him, when he was preparing to shoot him, others who were with the shooter knew him as a perfect person, so they exclaimed to forbid him to kill, but he risked being killed. At the school where he studied, Mudende elementary school; almost all the teachers except one teacher who taught them in the second grade, all of them were killed. They realized that in... 72, a number of government employees, almost all of them; salespersons and traders, were killed by perpetrators. A number of the remnants of the carriages of the wealthy merchants, were widespread in the markets, especially in a marketplace called Manyoni. It was horrible and there were some barriers called vigils, to keep vigil, that is, adults, the heads of families were forced to go to barriers saying, “They are going to keep vigils”. At that time, some people went but they did not come back. They did not come back. When Paul’s father went to Burambi, he spent a month and half, but he returned by the time his family got worried. When he arrived, he told them that many people who went there were killed.

Another sad story is that the JRR, the youth affiliated to the ruling party, Uprona; the JRRs were the ones who were in charge of arresting people, they were in charge of tying them[victims] and also taking them to the zones and to the communes, those who were taken away did not return. President Micombero was advised by Bishop Bernard Bududira to declare a truce by saying that peace had been restored; but even in 1973, the war had not yet ended.

Paul gave abundant and important advice: when it comes to ethnic issues in Burundi country, the first solution is one-on-one talks between parents and their kids, parents whether they are Hutus or Tutsis, one would advise them, especially to teach love to their children, to teach unity, to teach mutual assistance until they realize that ethnic relations are lesser than economic ties. If these one-on-one sessions fail at home, it won’t be efficient when they become adults.

Secondly for young people, all the authorities who are in leadership to stay in power or to come into power, they often achieve that goal by using manipulation of ethnic identity. A person who knows nothing about ethnic groups and doesn’t have any benefit may be manipulated in such a way to the detriment of another person, a young person who is completely innocent.

He added that people need to be taught how to distinguish between grass and yeast. The teacher of racial hatred had better first come to his senses and know that his hatred is vain.

And then for adults as well as people who are involved in these crimes or who manipulated others, he advised them to first apologize to the victims. They have to feel guilty, reach out to their victims and apologize because anyone who dares to exterminate his neighbor's household, his Burundian relatives arguing that they do not share the same ethnic groups, and especially as ... in 72,  tutsis massacred the Hutus. Those things are very bad, the perpetrators have to regret and apologize.

He advises the administration authorities and the justice officials to stand up and closely monitor the perpetrators of the genocide and then uphold the rule of law.

International communities are requested to give their support; those who are in power had better be in contact with the international communities and especially for missing families, there are widows, there are orphans, there are people who are really depressed whose hearts were broken, who have lost their belongings, there are also those who were traumatized. All of them need rehabilitation. They should make a special effort to compensate these families. To conclude, he reminds all Burundians that Burundi is their motherland even if a given ethnic group dies off the remaining group records a loss because they are interdependent. God's vengeance is the best and the rule of law can take revenge against them, not in the sense of doing evil but in the sense of suppressing misconduct. He advises anyone who could listen to him, “Never again” “Never again”

Named Persons

Niyungeko Paul, Binega Hermenegilde: his father, catechist, Cubwa Bernadette: his mother, Sindayihebura Justin, Magorofa Cleophas, Manirakiza Marc, Ndayikeza Barnabe, Bagorikunda Theodore: his siblings, Mujegetera: someone who was burned beard and killed in 1972, Pontien, Pierre: some of the students who were killed during the 1972 war when they were at school, Bourgmestre: administrator killed in 1972

Named Places

Mudende, Rutovu, Rumonge: schools where Paul studied, Gitandu, Manyoni, Buyengero: zones, Matana: commune, Rumeza : village

Length of Oral History

00:49:52

Language(s) of Oral History

Kirundi

Language(s) of Transcripts

Kirundi, English

Translator for Transcripts

Pasteur Niyomwungere

Field Folder Number

17

Rights

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Niyungeko, Paul

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