Muyinga : intelligence has kidnapped a former refugee who returned from Rwanda

Karangwa, in his forties, has been missing since September 20. He was kidnapped from his home in the locality of Kijumbura in the district of Giteranyi in the province of Muyinga (northeast Burundi). Imbonerakure (members of the CNDD-FDD youth league) who kidnapped him, handed him over to the representative of the National Intelligence Service (SNR) in the province. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The concerned person is a former refugee from the Mahama camp in Rwanda. He returned to Burundi a little over two years ago. On the evening of September 20, witnesses say, Imbonerakure from the locality of Kijumbura in the Masaka zone intercepted him around 7:30 p.m. as he was returning home.

“They quickly handed him over to Wilson Nzisabira,” they say.
Wilson Nzisabira is the head of the SNR in Muyinga province. He is often cited in atrocities committed against members of opposition political parties and supposed opponents. The latter had traveled to Giteranyi in a vehicle with tinted windows that he used to transport the former refugee.

The vehicle headed for the provincial town center, according to witnesses to the kidnapping scene.

Since then, his family says they have searched for him in all the official cells, in vain.

Reason for kidnapping

Residents say they still do not know the reason for his kidnapping. But according to a close friend of Mr. Karangwa, he is accused of being in contact with Burundians who remained in exile in Rwanda.

“Imbonerakure and authorities here have always suspected Karangwa of having kept links with Burundians who remained in Rwanda. However, we did not imagine that these suspicions would one day lead to his kidnapping”, deplores a member of his family.

Karangwa does not campaign for any political party, according to our sources. Members of the CNDD-FDD youth league in Kijumbura are said to have approached him on numerous occasions to recruit him, in vain. Relatives believe that this is also one of the reasons that led to his kidnapping.

His family is demanding his release. “Let us at least be told where he is held”.

Karangwa brings to two the number of people kidnapped in Muyinga, in less than a month. On the night of August 31, a retired member of the Burundi National Police (PNB) was kidnapped by gunmen in Burundian police uniform in the provincial town center. Gratien Macumi remains untraceable.