Nduta (Tanzania): two young Burundian refugees tortured

The two young refugees were tortured in the Nduta camp in Tanzania. Police officers are torched, but they totally reject these accusations. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Évariste was found this Sunday, dying in zone 7, village 9.

“It had been two days since he had been arrested by the police accusing him of running a small vegetable business near his home. We thought he was going to at least be detained in the dungeons as we are used to seeing. But suddenly he was discovered dying, unconscious, not moving or speaking”, his family said after finding him.

He was quickly referred to the Kibondo district hospital in the Kigoma region in northwestern Tanzania where the Nduta camp is located. His family is demanding sanctions against the police that arrested him.

“Even their names are known. Why do they torture people without any investigation being required? This injustice must be fought. We must be treated like humans. If they are not punished, we will see and know that it is the government’s plan to pursue us unfairly”, said Burundians from Nduta.

Ten days before, there was another case of torture of a refugee by unknown people.

“Our neighbor Claude, nicknamed Dogo, had also first disappeared, taken from his home during the night by people not yet identified. They beat him up and wrapped him in a bag before throwing him at zone 18 while he was living in zone 6, village 23. It is really shameful and criminal”, lamented his neighbors.

His family and neighbors still blame the police guarding the Nduta camp.

“When we took him to the hospital, the police intervened and refused his wife to see him or take care of him. This means that the police have something to do with it. We demand that these cases of torture and that the perpetrators be punished in accordance with the law”, they stress.

This year, the number of cases of arbitrary arrests and torture of refugees had decreased significantly.

Refugees call on Tanzanian authorities and the UNHCR to act and guarantee them real protection.

Tanzanian police say they are unaware of the two cases.

The Nduta camp hosts nearly 77,000 Burundian refugees