Jean Bigirimana, missing since 2016, remains a symbol of impunity

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, July 23, 2025 – Nine years to the day after the disappearance of journalist Jean Bigirimana, the Iwacu press group, where Jean was employed, held a moment of remembrance at its headquarters on Wednesday. Staff and journalists gathered to honor the memory of their colleague, who went missing on July 22, 2016, with no answers ever provided about his fate.

Jean Bigirimana’s disappearance—he was reportedly abducted near Bugarama, just a few kilometers from the economic capital Bujumbura—has become one of the darkest symbols of the dangers faced by journalists in Burundi. Despite repeated calls from civil society, international organizations, and fellow journalists, the case has seen no judicial progress.

During the ceremony, Léandre Sikuyavuga, director of the Iwacu press group, once again called on the Burundian justice system.

“To this day, we are still waiting for answers. We keep asking the same questions, and we won’t stop until we get the truth,” he said, visibly moved.

Among the questions that remain unanswered: Where is Jean Bigirimana? Who abducted him? What crime, if any, had he committed? Painful questions that, nine years later, remain met with silence.

“Jean was a son, a brother, a husband, a father. He was a Burundian citizen like so many others,” Sikuyavuga reminded the gathering.

For him, Jean’s disappearance is not only a personal tragedy—it is also a deep wound for the journalism profession. He emphasized that even if Jean had been suspected of wrongdoing, he should have been granted a fair trial and protection of his rights.

In his message, Sikuyavuga also issued a strong call to fellow journalists: do not give in to fear. He urged them to continue their work with courage, professionalism, and adherence to journalistic ethics.

“Even after Jean Bigirimana’s disappearance, remain standing,” he concluded.

Jean Bigirimana’s case remains, to this day, a symbol of the ongoing threats to press freedom in Burundi—and a reminder of the urgent need to uphold the right to truth for all victims of enforced disappearances.