Rugombo: discovery of a corpse

A body of a young man was seen this Wednesday afternoon on the hill of Kagazi in the commune of Rugombo (province of Cibitoke, north-west of Burundi). The conditions of his death are not yet cleared though the communal administrator of Rugombo ordered his burial. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Residents first discovered the body around 4 p.m., according to sources in Rugombo.

“Farmers were returning from work in the fields when they came across a corpse,” they say.

Witnesses say the body was covered in fresh blood. They believe that the deceased would have defended himself before being killed.

Residents of transverse road 6 suspect the head of the national intelligence service in the province of being involved in this affair.

“Around 11 p.m., we saw the vehicle of the provincial head of the national intelligence service pass through transverse 5. In a few minutes, he left. We think he just deceived the vigilance of the people who stand guard and dropped off the corpse at the 6th transverse. It is very likely that he is the author of the assassination”, accuse the inhabitants before demanding an independent investigation.

The communal administrator of Rugombo confirms the macabre discovery. He ordered the burial of the young man who has not been identified, but promises an investigation.

Local sources speak of at least five corpses discovered in the commune of Rugombo in just two weeks.

Since the 2015 crisis triggered by another controversial mandate of the late President Pierre Nkurunziza, the communes of Rugombo and Buganda, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, have become the scene of the discovery of several dozen corpses. Administrative, police or judicial officials have always promised “investigations that have not been successful”, according to local observers.

Local human rights defenders denounced “the burial of corpses without investigation”.

A few Imbonerakure (members of the youth league of the CNDD-FDD presidential party) were sanctioned by the provincial court some time after President Neva came to power. They were convicted of “usurpation of power, murder and obstruction of the national economy”, for “killing, robbing and torturing” passengers who used the Rusizi River (separating Burundi and the DRC) especially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.