Rutana: heavy sentences for soldiers who refused to fight alongside the FARDC

Sentences ranging from 22 to 30 years in prison and fines of 500 US dollars were handed down against 272 soldiers who refused to fight against the M23 alongside the FARDC. Two detainees were acquitted. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The involved soldiers arrived at the central prison of Rutana, south-eastern Burundi on May 18 and 23. They were previously held in six prisons in the small East African nation including the penitentiary houses of Bururi and Rumonge (southwest), Muyinga and Ngozi (northeast), Muramvya and Ruyigi (center-east). They appeared before the first instance of the itinerant military prosecutor’s office in Rutana.

“The trial took place in a room that was set up for this purpose between June 18 and 22 in the offices of the governor of Rutana,” witnesses say.

According to military sources and those close to the detainees, the convicts were classified into three categories. The first group received 22 years in prison, the second 25 as the third group got 30 years in jail. The three groups will also have to pay 500 US dollars fine. Initially, these soldiers were informed that they were being prosecuted for “conspiracy and revolt”. A single charge was brought against these elements of the FDNB (Burundi National Defense Force) who refused to fight alongside the Congolese army.

“But the judge told us that we are only accused of revolt. Which is a bit crazy because there can’t be revolt without conspiracy, I suppose,” said one condemned man.

SOS Médias Burundi was unable to have the exact figures that constitute each category.

https://www.sosmediasburundi.org/2024/02/27/burundi-plus-de-240-militaires-sont-detenus-dans- quatre-prisons-pour-avoir-refuse-daller-combattre-aux-cotes- des-fardc-against-the-m23/

Only one detainee was assisted by a lawyer. He is in the group of prisoners who were sentenced to 25 years in jail. Two soldiers were acquitted. The 272 soldiers have the chance to appeal against the decision of the first instance of military justice in the small East African nation.

Burundi and the DRC signed a bilateral agreement allowing Burundian forces to intervene in Congo. Between September 2023 and January 2024, several Burundian soldiers, including senior officers, were killed in the North Kivu province in the east of the DRC.

Until now, Burundian authorities have never made any official communication on this matter. The Burundian army still has men in both Kivus, the south and the north. They operate within the framework of this bilateral agreement.

The M23 is a former Tutsi rebellion which resumed hostilities at the end of 2021, accusing the Congolese administration of not having respected its commitments on the reintegration of its fighters. The Congolese authorities remain convinced that it benefits from the support of Rwanda, which the Rwandan government continues to deny but rather charges the Congolese leaders of collaborating with the Rwandan FDLR genocidaires by providing them with uniforms, weapons and ammunition with the aim of “destabilizing Rwandan territory”.