Bijombo : a young man from the Banyamulenge community dies after being beaten by the Burundian army

SOS Médias Burundi

Bukavu, August 26, 2025 – Mutabazi, a young man in his twenties from the Banyamulenge community, died on Monday, August 25, after succumbing to beatings inflicted by Burundian soldiers operating in the Bijombo groupment, Uvira territory, South Kivu.

According to local sources, Mutabazi and his companion, Mvuyekure, were herding cattle when they were arrested on August 19 by Burundian soldiers from Muramvya. The two youths were reportedly violently beaten before being transferred to Bijombo, where they were briefly imprisoned. Released on August 21 and taken to hospital, they received treatment, but Mutabazi did not survive his injuries.

The news of his death sparked strong emotion among the local population, that denounced targeted abuses against Banyamulenge civilians. “Burundian soldiers from Muramvya captured the two boys while they were simply tending their cows. They beat them for no reason,” lamented a resident of Bijombo.

This incident comes amid an extremely tense security situation in the highlands of South Kivu, particularly in the Mwenga territory, Itombwe sector, in Rubumba, where the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC), the Burundian army, the Wazalendo, and the FDLR are clashing with the Twirwaneho and M23 armed groups.

Burundi has deployed approximately 10,000 troops to the province as part of a bilateral agreement aimed at dislodging two armed groups of Burundian origin and fighting alongside the FARDC and allied militias against the M23. This rebel group, affiliated with the Congo River Alliance (AFC), a politico-military movement hostile to Kinshasa, has controlled the provincial capitals of the two Kivu provinces and several strategic mineral-rich areas since the beginning of the year. After being driven out of North Kivu, the Burundian army is now concentrating its troops in South Kivu.

Spokespersons for the Burundian and Congolese armies had not yet responded to these allegations at the time of the publication of this article.