Cibitoke: distress cries of tortured men heard in the provincial prison of the SNR

Information collected on the reporting site shows that two men are subjected to torture in an SNR (National Intelligence Service) cell in Cibitoke (northwest Burundi). This happened a week ago. Police and residents reveal that they hear them crying for help. The provincial head of the SNR denies these accusations. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

According to corroborating sources, the two men arrived at this dungeon a week ago.

According to a witness, both detainees were brought in the vehicle of the provincial intelligence official on Friday, December 23, from the province of Bujumbura (west).

They are said to be suspected of “collaboration with Burundian rebels of the Red-Tabara armed group”, based in South Kivu (eastern DRC).

“During their arrest, it was said that they were about to cross the border to join this armed group”, said a police source.

“Beatings are regularly inflicted on them to make them admit that they collaborate with this armed group based for several years in DR Congo and that they are fighting the regime of Gitega”, revealed a policeman.

This agent added that the two men are deprived of visits and food.

Several telephone exchanges are currently being conducted between intelligence officials in the provinces of Bubanza (neighboring Cibitoke) and Cibitoke to decide the fate of these two men. The representative of the SNR in Bubanza, Jovin Cishahayo is known for “his heinous acts” in the provinces of Makamba-Rutana (southeast) as well as Gitega-Ruyigi (center-east) where he worked in the past.

“We fear for their lives. Their moans are often heard at night by anyone passing around the SNR office in Cibitoke”, said another policeman.

For him, “these detainees are innocent and are unfairly detained because they have not perpetrated any crime”.

He makes an urgent appeal to human rights defenders to demand that these men be released because, according to him, “if nothing is done immediately, the risk of dying in jail of the SNR in Cibitoke is high”.

Contacted on this matter, the person in charge of the intelligence service in Cibitoke, Ahmed Nabil Sindayigaya denies all these allegations by indicating that no person is for the moment imprisoned in the dungeon of its services.

On the identity of the people handcuffed and taken late Friday night in his service vehicle, he preferred simply to say without further explanation that they were thieves who had been arrested in the district of Buganda (Cibitoke).