Burundi : ACG CIRIMOSO denounces the arrest of Tutsi survivors invited to a memorial meeting in Nairobi

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, June 16, 2025 – Three representatives of Burundian genocide survivor associations were arrested on Friday as they were preparing to travel to Kenya to attend a meeting organized by the German organization GIZ-ZFD. For ACG Genocide CIRIMOSO, which supports them, these arrests are discriminatory, politically motivated, and demonstrate a desire to silence critical voices of remembrance of the regime. Florence Rutamucero, president of the Association for the Management of Wounded Memories of Kibimba (ARG-Kibimba), André Bizoza, president of the Association Lumière du Monde de Buta (ALM-Buta), and Elvis Nshimirimana, responsible for daily activities within the same association, were among those arrested on June 13, 2025. According to their relatives, they were on their way to Nairobi after being officially invited to a regional meeting.

Burundian authorities accused them of endangering the internal security of the state, an offence the external branches of the AC Genocide CIRIMOSO consider unfounded and recurrent against critical voices.

“Of the seven people invited to this meeting, only the three representing Tutsi survivors were arrested. “This arrest is as unjust as it is discriminatory,” denounced the association’s foreign branches, notably those of Canada and Scandinavia, in a joint statement dated June 14.

In this document, these branches vigorously condemn what they describe as targeted persecution against “Never Again” activists and call for their immediate release. They see this as a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of movement as guaranteed by Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Signatories of the statement go further, asserting that these arrests are part of a climate of impunity maintained in Burundi since the 1990s. Citing several UN reports, including the notorious S/1996/682, they point to the responsibility of the CNDD-FDD—currently in power—in pursuing a genocidal program both within and outside Burundi’s borders.

“Organizing elections in this context is not enough to legitimize a regime accused of such serious crimes,” the document insists. The CIRIMOSO Genocide Action Center calls on the international community to “quarantine” the CNDD-FDD and demand justice for the crimes committed since 1993.

For now, the families of the three arrested individuals remain without clear news regarding their fate. Concern is also growing among other members of survivor associations, who fear increasing repression as major elections approach.