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  Kandava, Riberata

  Riberata Kandava

  Riberata Kandava shares how she studied till the first grade and after one year, studied at catechetical school. However, she stopped attending school, because her mother viewed it as a risk, after her father was captured. Riberata narrates how armed individuals came to her home, arrested her father who was a merchant, and subsequently killed him. The perpetrators looted her family's belongings, taking away a bicycle and a radio, and later returned to take whatever remained in the house. The family was left in appalling circumstances, constantly harassed by local authorities who accused them of being traitors. The term "traitor" was unclear to the speaker as a child, but it was used as a derogatory term against those who were targeted. The interviewee also mentions an alarming practice where some perpetrators would return to marry the widows of the victims they had killed. The speaker's mother, a young and attractive widow, became a target of such advances, which intensified their hardships. The family lived in fear and poverty, struggling to survive amid ongoing harassment, as well as threats from local authorities.

  Overall, the interview paints a vivid picture of the brutal consequences of political violence and how it profoundly affected the lives of innocent civilians in Kandava during that period.

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  Kangeyo, Marie Rose

  Marie Rose Kangeyo

  Marie Rose Kangeyo was born in 1947 in Bwinyana village, Vumbi commune, Kirundo province. She was married there, and became a widow there in Bitare, a place opposite to Rarwe. She got school education until fifth grade. Her father was Ntamugenzi Andreya, he was a diploma holder, he was an agricultural assistant. During the 1972 tragedy, Marie Rose Kangeyo lost many people: Her husband, her father, Michel Pfayokumpa, Mariko Kazirinikori, Rwobahirya, Pasikari, Saturumino and others.

  According to Marie Rose Kangeyo, educated hutus were targeted even women, but also important people, merchants were mostly targeted. She witnessed the arrest of her husband and other hutus to be killed. Their graves are at Vumbi in an unknown place because they took them away and they never returned back. They recommended her husband to bring a report as he was chief, while he was enjoying his holidays, so they took him away and killed him. Some local leaders were involved in that tragedy, the administrator Mako, Gahima nicknamed Gasuravumbi, and others. That administrator also was involved in the arrest of her father, and they embarked him in his car which he had stationed at Gasivya. They killed them using small hoes, under the administrator’s order.

  The money her husband had saved in saving account was not recuperated by his family because he had gone with all diploma documents. They even looted the land his husband had bought at Kabuye in Kiremba. They also looted banana crops they had. Misogoro was a man who brought thieves to steal Marie Rose’s things because she refused to marry him as his second wife after her husband’s death. After the death of her husband, she was traumatized, she was constrained to return back to her mother’s home. Thieves always troubled her, trying to break through the window, because she was a widow. She alertly cried out with her few children with whom they lived together, but they lacked someone to come in help. So, her mother came and took them out of there. Her children didn’t continue school education, no one of them graduated, they survived in a very sorrowful life.

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  Karibwami, Louis

  Louis Karibwami

  Karibwami Louis was born in 1970, in Gitega commune and province, in Rutegama village. During the 1972 tragedy, his father was killed. After his father’s death they lived in very bad circumstances of poverty, as her mother was jobless. His father was a soldier, it was during the morning; he went to work but his family had already heard that there were killings which were being done all over the country. His family lived in a military camp and there was no way, no possibility to escape.

  When they lost they lost his father, it was as if their lives stopped. His mother didn’t know perpetrators, because there were teams appointed just for coming and took away them to kill them in mass graves. They realized that it was the government’s plan at that time. No one could see the body; you couldn’t even go to ask, if you went to ask, you could also be killed. They didn’t even find bodies of killed people.

  They were badly affected, that is why they would like to stop it, because it was a hard tragedy and many people lost their lives. Hutus were targeted in that tragedy.What they ask is that they should be given back their properties and things plundered; a lot of people were plundered with all their things, so they should be compensated.

  The advice he gives is that Burundians in general, and youth in particular, should fight against divisions and work hard to make development.

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  Macumi, Béatrice

  Béatrice Macumi

  Béatrice recounts the tragic times of 1972, where there was a massacre. She mentions incidents where people were arrested and killed, due to accusations of witchcraft or other reasons. She mentions that in 1972, some people disappeared, possibly taken away to work and never returned, presumed dead.

  Béatrice denies knowing about traitors or any specific details of the killings, indicating a lack of clear information or memory due to the passage of time. She mentions losing her husband, who was a soldier and taken away, and also losing a child during that period. She also recalls being called to live in a camp with her husband temporarily, and later returning home where her husband was again taken away and ultimately killed.

  The interview provides the interviewee's fragmented memories and the traumatic events she experienced during the 1972 massacre, highlighting the uncertainty and loss that affected her and her family.

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  Macumi, François

  François Macumi

  Macumi Francois was born in 1953 in Kabuye village, Kamihigo subvillage, Vumbi commune, Kirundo province. In 1972, he lost his beloved brother who raised him. He lived in his house because his father had married another wife and had left his mother. His brother clothed him, fed him like his parents. The day they came to take him away, he hid himself in the upper shelter built in the house below the stove, so they burned the red pepper which made him flee from there, so they picked up him, he never returned back.

  According to Francois, the 1972 tragedy targeted people of a given ethnic group. During that period, local leaders, policemen, JRR members and other tutsis took away hutus, put them in prison and killed them. He said that most targeted people were hutus who had conflicts with local leaders or with other tutsis, and teachers. They accused them of being too many. When they took them away, you couldn’t cry, you couldn’t mourn, you couldn’t say anything, in order not to be considered as evil doers complicit.

  His brother had had conflict with a certain tutsi, so they convoked him the following day. When he went there he was imprisoned for about three days, they released him, followed him, called him back telling him that there was something he had forgotten, and then they killed him. His family members never saw him again; they realized that he underwent what happened to other people, as such things were happening around them.

  After some days, they persecuted the interviewee, the local leader protected him and advised him not to go to answer that convocation, they accused him that he wanted to avenge his brother, which was not true, that was pretext to kill him. His sister in law who was left by his brother became foolish because of problems that happened to her, she was downhearted, she was put in jail because of that foolishness and she finally died after three years, but she had returned home. She left two orphans who were sustained by their grandmother and family members.

  The interviewee affirms that it was a very sorrowful period and that oppression went on even in 1973, they were sent to clear forest at Murehe, where they saw sorrowful past events, burned houses, empty houses and areas where people had fled from.

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  Manirambona, Rehokadiya

  Rehokadiya Manirambona

  In Rehokadiya’s testimony, she explains how in 1972 people were taken away without clear reasons, often labeled as "dissidents" by those in power. She mentions how this time period was marked by confusion and a lack of understanding about the true nature of the violence. The interviewee was a student at Murehe elementary school during the genocide era. She witnessed classmates and teachers being taken away by soldiers and never seeing them again. The local population were given a warning by an Italian priest about the danger and encouraged to flee if possible.

  Rehokadiya lost two family members (cousins) during this tragedy, one was a demobilized soldier working in the governor's office who disappeared and was later confirmed dead. Another was a teacher who attempted to hide but was eventually captured and killed. She narrates how Mourning and traditional funeral rituals at the time were prohibited. Expressing grief would result in being accused of sympathizing with the victims, and could easily lead to further persecution.

  These arrests were carried out by compiled lists made by government authorities and passed down to local officials who carried out the arrests and executions. The interviewee describes mass graves in Vumbi municipality, where victims from various regions were brought to be killed. The graves were located in a large cave used for hiding and disposing of bodies. Rehokadiya heard about the massacre from a former perpetrator who described the brutal methods and locations where bodies were disposed of. This person, named Magarama, recounted the details of the killings and the state of the mass graves.

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  Mateso, Alexis

  Alexis Mateso

  Mateso’s father was ambushed and killed in Bujumubura. He was traveling to pick up his monthly paycheck and never returned home. Instead of seeing his father’s safe return, Mateso was greeted by his dad’s best friend, who held his father’s jacket. At that moment, Mateso said he knew his father was gone. Before this tragedy struck, Mateso said he had fond memories of his father gently waking him up before he left for work each morning and warmly greeting him in the evenings. Mateso hopes Burundians can come together to address their past and positively change things for a better future. Mateso said God has helped him have a forgiving spirit, and he is ready to live in harmony.

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  Mazina, Makariyo

  Mazina Makariyo

  Makariyo Mazina and his siblings lost their father, and everything he had was looted. His late father was the head of the village called councilors. He was also a merchant. After the soldiers and the perpetrators arrested him and packed in the truck, one of the perpetrators grabbed Makariyo’s hands, tied him with ropes of banana trees and dumped him into the truck. He lied above other victims who were moaning and screaming in pain. When they reached the road, the soldiers took him and threw him in the thorn bushes. He was picked up by a neighbor who heard him crying. He was 14 years old when they arrested him. Makariyo, his siblings and his uncle fled to Rwanda. Their cattle, sheep, bicycle, house and property were plundered. After Makariyo returned home, they imprisoned him for a long time from ...75 to ...76 until a new president, Bagaza, took power. After they released him, the head of the village of the time, counselor, sent the JRRs to persecute him. To get back there, he paid thirty thousand francs and a pot of alcohol to the [head of the village]. Later, Karuyonga, Bitegigihanga and Nyomogo returned to persecute him, they were together with JRRs.

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  Mbonibogoye, Emmanuel

  Emmanuel Mbonibogoye

  Emmanuel explains in his testimony how the violence was largely targeted at the Hutu population in 1972, and he also describes the systematic arrests, torture, and executions. When Emmanuel's mother returned from Kayanza after witnessing the brutal treatment of local people, she warned the family, prompting fears for their safety. The interviewee’s father was arrested by local authorities, accused of harboring weapons and being involved in the violence. Despite being innocent, he was tortured and eventually executed, like many other Hutus fate during the genocide. His father was taken from his home, beaten, and accused of possessing a gun to kill Tutsis. The family witnessed the brutality of the arrests and executions, with many people being forcibly detained and taken to prisons where they were killed.

  Emmanuel describes the physical and emotional impact of witnessing his father’s death and the subsequent violence. This included health problems, such as heart issues, which started after these traumatic events. He describes how the family’s property was looted, and they were left in poverty. The family had to endure harsh conditions and work under forced labor for a year.

  Despite the tragedy, the interviewee reflects on how his family survived and continued to uphold the legacy of their father. He took on his father’s profession, which provided some stability. Emmanuel’s narrative highlights the long-term impact of the violence on his life and family, as well as the broader historical context of ethnic conflicts in Burundi.

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  Mboninyeretse, Dominique

  Dominique Mboninyeretse

  Dominique Mboninyeretse hid behind a tree-lined mountain and watched tractors unload dead bodies into a hole outside Gitega. Mboninyeretse said he witnessed this pattern for days until he finally saw live prisoners get off one of the tractors. The militia forced the prisoners to sit on top of the piles of dead bodies to wait for their turn to be executed. Mboninyeretse said the soldiers lined prisoners up in groups of ten, tied them together by whatever existing limbs they had left after being tortured, and then shot them to death. Nearly five decades after the killings, Mboninyeretse led the Truth and Reconciliation Committee exactly where he saw his family and neighbors get slaughtered. He helped exhume their bodies and has planted trees to memorialize those lost in the 1972 Genocide of Burundi. Each tree he planted symbolizes the resiliency and strength of the Burundian people.

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  Mbuzukongira, Jerome

  Jerome Mbuzukongira

  Mbuzukongira Jerome was working at Bujumbura in the ministry of planning and statistics in 1972. His father, a small businessman, helps him to pay school fees to continue primary school and secondary school. When the tragedy broke out, he was in a bar in Bujumbura, he saw a man wandering. He was hunting Hutus. When he came near Jerome, he said: “We see a hutu; come, come”. He arrested him, beat him and imprisoned him. He was beaten until his neck became crippled. He has been disabled up to now. Jerome was identified through the nose shape: Hutu plate nose, Tutsi long nose. According to Jerome, young people have to go to school in order to learn the truth behind ethnicity.

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  Melchior, Niyokwizera

  Niyokwizera Melchior

  When the tragedy began in Rumonge, Niyokwizera Melchior was at school. People who fled from Rumonge said that people were killing each other, Mulele rebels were killing people. So many people died there, especially those who went to attend the celebrations, some were killed there. So the killings extended for the Hutu people who fled from Rumonge to Songa, some Tutsis came to round them up saying that they were Mulele, they killed them. They again extended the killings to the Hutu teachers including the headmaster Nizigama Gervais. They targeted teachers, intellectuals, any Hutu who had money or who had valuable property. On Friday, they arrested his father and many other Hutu people. The perpetrators were two soldiers, they came together with local perpetrators namely Zona and Mukogoto. They took them to Songa commune (former Manyoni zone of the time). To arrest them, they told them to appear quickly to the authorities of Manyoni zone to answer different questions. Others were rounded up from the patrols. It was clear that they organized patrols so that they could easily arrest whom they wanted, said Niyokwizera Melchior. No mourning period for the deceased; it was like a dead dog. The perpetrators had two main objectives: To kill and to plunder all victims belongings. The head of Manyoni zone looted many clothes from Hutus stores. He has been wearing them for many years. Melchor also lost his godfather Gabriel Bagwagure in a 1968 tragedy. He then dropped out of school because Tutsis students kept torturing Hutu classmates Orphans of 1972.

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  Merida, Sabiyumva

  Sabiyumva Merida

  Sabiyumva Merida was born around 1950 or 1952, in Mugamba, at Kiryama but they moved to live in Burambi, after she got married at Muhuzu in Rumonge. When the 1972 tragedy started, they didn't know why it started, because they were living peacefully in hutus and tutsis. But there came other people called Mayimayi from other provinces. So, when those people came, they went to the people of Merida’s neighbors and harassed them, urging them to help them in killing.

  Merida lost her father and her two sisters in that war. Perpetrators went to their home to look for them, and when they went to look for her father, he was not there, he had gone to see his sister who was there in Rumonge, so they killed him when he was going to see her. They also wanted to kill Merida and others, but fortunately their neighbors tried to protect them. Their neighbors warned them to run away. As they ran away, they heard that her little sister was killed and the child who was with her. So Merida ran away. Even their neighbors were obliged to run away because if they didn't accept the order perpetrators gave them, they attempted to kill them. It was the order to kill others. They targeted the ethnic group. At that time, they were persecuting tutsis. Of course even the hutu who didn't accept to practice that evil was harmed.

  Merida ran away to the countryside because her mother had already gone upcountry because she got ill and her father had taken her upcountry, when she ran, she was following her mother at Mugamba where her father was born.

  Her sisters killed had tried to run away but they were caught. One of her sisters bore a child with her, it was not possible for her to pass through the valleys as Merida did. Merida had things like clothes and money her father had given her which were in a wooden box, when she saw that they approached her, she threw down the box, she passed through the forests, so she was saved but others were killed. On other sides people after knowing what was happening, they wanted revenge.

  During that time they looted many things of the victims: livestock, crops, clothes, money, they even burned the houses. They looted all things, they harvested crops.

  Merida advises Burundians to change and come from wicked ways and go forward, they should only look for means to live, and stop wickedness. They should not follow wicked people because those sorrowful things were done by wicked people, avid of materials and not patriots. People should stop evil things, they should only look for life, they should love each other in order to prosper. If people don't love each other, they can't develop, but if they love each other, help one another, they will develop and build their country, it will be peaceful and prosperous.

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  Miburo, Sylvie

  Sylvie Miburo

  Sylvie Miburo was born in 1940 in Murore village, Busoni commune, Kirundo province. When the 1972 tragedy broke out she had three or four children, her husband was killed in that tragedy. She described the bad circumstances they went through during that period. They saw people coming, they rounded up hutus, they packed them in trucks and took them away. They thought they would come back, they waited but they never returned back. Perpetrators (Tutsis) accused them of collecting money to kill tutsis. That was jealousy and pretext to kill them because they saw that they were succeeding in their works of farming and so on.

  They arrested her husband on the day of community work, when people met together to work for a certain person, on that same day they took many people of the same circumscription. When they arrived at Rusarasi, they took a teacher named Bidodwa Lazarre, they also took Bikere, his co-worker in Gatare, they took Bizuru in Makombe, they took Bidadi who was a teacher, Ntanyurwa’s son. On that day they rounded up six people in that neighbourhood. They packed them in military trucks, and sat on them when transporting them away to kill them.

  Some local leaders were involved in that massacre, she gave the example of Nzogera, the administrator during that period, but also there were some other people mostly involved in that massacre as Biteyigihanga and Nzirikana.

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  Mpabonimana, Anne Marie

  Anne Marie Mpabonimana

  In 1972, after Anne Marie had finished school, her family experienced a distressing event, where they were visited by police officers and gendarmes who arrived at their home in a van. The police, including two municipal officers and an administrator, arrived at the interviewee's home and arrested Anne Marie's father and uncle, Prudence Mahobwe. They were handcuffed, tied up, and locked away in a van. This was a shocking and confusing experience for Anne Marie and her family, who were not familiar with the political context or the ethnic tensions going on at the time. Her family, including her pregnant mother and grandfather, were left in a state of fear and helplessness. They observed the police searching their home and taking money and other valuables. Despite their distress, this situation made them feel powerless to intervene or protest.

  Following the arrests, Anne Marie’s family made efforts to find out what had happened. The next day, they searched for the arrested individuals but found no trace of them. Rumors soon circulated that the situation was dire, and it became evident that the arrests were part of a broader and severe wave of violence. The family was informed that the likelihood of their relatives being alive was minimal, contributing to their distress and despair. After this tragic event, Anne Marie began to understand the ethnic conflict involving Hutus and Tutsis during this period. She heard that Hutus were being targeted and that the violence was widespread, affecting various regions. This marked a turning point in her awareness of the political and ethnic tensions in the country.

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  Mugemangabo, Angelo

  Angelo Mugemangabo

  Angelo Mugemangabo lost his brother and his relative in the 1972 tragedy. All of them belong to the Tutsi ethnic group but they were killed by Tutsis. Ruberankiko Salvator, a soldier who worked in Bujumbura was killed because the perpetrators said no Hutu lived in Kirundo. Nkundabanyanka Emmanuel was a gendarme who worked in Kirundo. Ndabaneze Laurent, a former army brigade commander, took him away because he supplied food to a Hutu man who was in Kirundo prison. Angelo Mugemangango, whether he was at home or at school, saw soldiers coming to round up Hutus like teachers or other kinds of people and took them away. But he thereafter learnt that they were massacred for they were ‘Abamenja’ traitors.

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  Mupfasoni, Elisabeth

  Elisabeth Mupfasoni

  Elisabeth Mupfasoni grew up with seven siblings. She remembers living in a peaceful community where all Burundians cared for one another, and the ethnic divide did not exist. Mupfasoni explained that she was a newlywed when the violence of the 1972 Genocide of Burundi erupted. She and her husband fled and lived with relatives for 2 months to avoid the attacks.

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  Muvunandinda, Ferdinand

  Ferdinand Muvunandinda

  Ferdinand talks about the 1972 tragedy. He describes the tragic events that happened in Burundi in 1972 and 1973. He lost his father, Dominique Bizuru in 1972. He was taken away by Bukuru, the policeman and also brother of Bimpenda. The perpetrator arrested him together with another man called Karemera. After that, a mob of men, called JRR, led by the communal administrator, Nzirikana and Bitezigihanga looted the house and his father’s store. They robbed bicycles, clothes and the sewing machines which were in the store at the marketplace, over there at the crossroads. He lost other relatives notably Bikere, his grandfather's brother and Rubamba from Rutabo.

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  Mvuyekure, Generose

  Generose Mvuyekure

  At the age of 18, Mvuyekure saw many people brutally slaughtered during the 1972 Genocide of Burundi. Mvuyekure explained that perpetrators would cut their victims’ heads open with machetes, splitting their skulls into two butchered halves. She witnessed people who were on their way to church get lined up by militia only to be shot and killed. She recalled seeing piles of the victim’s clothing and shoes stacked up in their community. Mvuyekure said when the perpetrators killed her husband, they also stole his motorcycle. From time to time, after her husband’s death, Mvuyekure would watch her husband’s executioner ride his bike throughout the community. Now, she said she hopes the mass graves will be memorialized so future generations will not let this mass atrocity happen again.

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  Mvyumvuhore, Abraham

  Abraham Mvyumvuhore

  When the 1972 tragedy broke out, Abraham Mvyumvuhore was at home. He and his family saw people fleeing from Rumonge passing by their home location. The authorities set up patrol sites as protection measures. There were three patrols in their sub village. The patrol near Abraham’s family was close to the Tutsi communities. People have been patrolling for many days but they didn’t see the enemy coming in. However, Tutsis started to round up Hutus men at the patrol site and herded them to Songa zone located at Manyoni. They then arrested his father Nzojibwami, his uncles Mpitabakana, Ntabarizo and Bigaza. Bigaza was arrested in Bujumbura. He also lost Majanya. In that period, Hutus did not know what was happening, only the perpetrators knew the trick. He told the victims that they were going to sign to Kotsi and they thought that they were going to be interrogated in court but they didn’t come back. Their children were called “children of traitors”. They targeted families they found valuable belongings to be looted, or any others who had financial means. The perpetrator who arrested the father of Mvyumvuhore is Ntiterura, the municipal police, Mukogoto Barinzigo and Fumberi the administrator. After the murder, Fumberi, the administrator of the time, plundered the cows of the Mvyumvuhore family and took them to his home.

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  Mwemerabugabo, Léonidas

  Léonidas Mwemerabugabo

  At the age of 15, Léonidas witnessed his father being taken away by authorities. The father, who was a catechist teacher, was arrested and never seen again. Léonidas’s family was informed about his fate through a radio broadcast that reported all the demonstrators and those arrested had been defeated by the authorities of Burundi in 1972.

  After his father's disappearance, life was filled with hardship for the widow and nine children left behind. The children faced persecution and bullying at school from classmates who were from a different ethnic group (Tutsi) and acted on the influence of their parents' beliefs. The interviewee and his siblings eventually had to drop out of school due to the abuse and discrimination they faced, being labeled as children of traitors.

  Despite these difficulties, their mother never remarried and took on the responsibility of caring for the family alone. Before their father's arrest, the family had a comfortable life with livestock and a well-maintained household. Although, after becoming widowed, their mother struggled to support nine children without the father's income or support.

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  Nadayishimey, Antonie

  Antonie Nadayishimey

  Nadayishimey was born amid the 1972 Genocide of Burundi and lost his father when he was just an infant. He and his four siblings grew up in devastating living conditions while members of their community told them they were “children of a traitor.” Nadayishimey said his father was a tax collector who always advocated for fairness among the people. He said his father would bring those accused of stealing before their peers for judgment rather than sending them to be executed. Because of his father’s intellectual status, he was targeted as a threat and accused of being a rebel against the government. Nadayishimey said his father was arrested and never seen alive again. Nadayishemey’s family’s home was ceased during the attack, and they were never able to reobtain ownership. Despite the emotional and physical devastation, his mother raised Ndayishemey and his siblings to forgive, forget, and focus on the future. Now, more than 50 years after this mass atrocity, Ndayishemey hopes Burundians will be able to democratically choose their leaders so they have the freedom to express themselves without fear.

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  Ndaripfane, Perajiyo

  Perajiyo Ndaripfane

  Perajiyo recounts the tragic time in Burundi in 1972, where people were rounded up and arrested by soldiers. The interviewee was at home with her husband when soldiers arrived in trucks and took him away, explaining very little about a planned plot. There was no information available concerning the husband's grave or location, despite the interviewees attempts to learn more about his demise.

  During the roundup, Perajiyo nearly escaped being arrested while at the Kabuye market. Friends alerted her and assisted in hiding her so the soldiers, who were also pillaging her house, wouldn't find her. They discovered her step-wife had been taken into custody upon their return, but soon spotted her in a local bar.

  The only person Perajiyo lost in the disaster was her husband, who was a businessman. When he was arrested, they had two kids. After that, they experienced loneliness and a lack of help; nobody came to see them or provide support. Nevertheless, they continued, deciding to endure the suffering in silence.

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  Ndarugirire, Adèle

  Adèle Ndarugirire

  Adèle Ndarugirire narrates how the massacres in 1972 occurred, describing how people by the names of Rwabaye and Maritino captured individuals from Cendajuru. The interviewee recalls that while she was cooking, her loved one was taken into custody. The Elders known as "Nyumbakumi '' were the ones who made the arrests. When asked if she knew the names of these Elders, the interviewee lists Gosito and John, among others, but says that most of them are already deceased. Adèle explains a situation where a disagreement over alcohol at a bar led to her husband's incarceration. Three people arrived and said they needed to take him with them. Adèle’s husband had previously sold alcohol, and there had been a falling out after the seller of the booze accused the husband of not making his payments. Adera’s spouse believed that he was falsely accused of claiming that Tutsis were eradicating the Hutu people during the dispute.

  The spouse was then taken to jail by the authorities, which included a man known as Mpagaceri, a councilor leader. Family members reassured him, but he never came home.

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  Ndayambaye, Patricie

  Patricie Ndayambaye

  In May of 1972, Patricie Ndayambaye said she moved to Gitega with her husband in hopes of fleeing the violent attacks in her community. Ndayambaye said her husband worked as a school teacher while she stayed home to care for their five children. One afternoon, Ndayamabaye said she became nervous for her husband’s safety after a group of children fled school crying and telling their families soldiers had taken their teachers away. Ndayamabaye said the militia invaded the schools, removing any male Hutu teachers from their classrooms. She explained that the perpetrators took her husband and loaded him onto a truck with his fellow male colleagues, and they killed him. Ndayambaye said they were casting bodies into rivers or mass graves. After her husband was murdered, she said perpetrators invaded her home, stole all its belongings, and left her with zero belongings. She said if her neighbors did not give her milk and food, she is not sure she and her children would have survived.