Jean Bigirimana : ten years on, Burundi still unable to answer the unsettling question

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, July 22, 2026—Ten years after the disappearance of journalist Jean Bigirimana, no final answer has yet been found regarding his fate. This Wednesday, the Iwacu media group commemorated the tenth anniversary of its reporter’s disappearance and renewed its call for truth and justice. His family, colleagues, and press freedom organizations continue to demand a credible investigation into a case that has become a symbol of the violence suffered by journalists in Burundi.

This Wednesday, surrounded by employees of the Iwacu media group, Léandre Sikuyavuga, the managing director of this independent media outlet, delivered a statement on behalf of the editorial staff. He read a text sent by Antoine Kaburahe, founder of the Iwacu media group, who has been in exile since November 2015.

Ten years after Jean Bigirimana’s disappearance, the questions remain unanswered.

“The pain, however, remains. The questions we asked ten years ago are still the same and haunt us,” writes Antoine Kaburahe.

In his message, he continues to demand answers to three questions :

“Where is Jean Bigirimana? Who abducted our colleague? What crime did he commit?”

For the founder of Iwacu, the journalist never faced justice.

“Jean committed no crime, Jean never went to trial. And even if he had committed a wrong, Jean Bigirimana should have had the right to justice,” he asserts.

According to Léandre Sikuyavuga, the journalist’s disappearance remains a deep wound for the entire profession.

“Jean’s disappearance is an ordeal, a trauma for everyone,” he declares.

He calls on Burundian journalists to continue their work despite the pressure.

“History will remember that journalists in Burundi refused to back down, even after Jean’s disappearance,” he said.

The director general of Iwacu reiterated that the media outlet had filed a complaint against unknown persons and is still waiting for the truth to come out.

“We have filed a lawsuit against unknown persons. We continue to hold these men accountable,” he concluded.

A disappearance after a meeting with a source

Jean Bigirimana disappeared on July 22, 2016, after leaving his home in Bujumbura, then the political capital of Burundi and now its commercial capital, to attend a business meeting.

According to information gathered at the time, he was to meet a source described as having ties to the Burundian intelligence services.

The journalist was reportedly then seen in Bugarama, in the former province of Muramvya, before being taken to Muramvya, in the center of the country, according to several testimonies reported by Iwacu and journalists’ rights organizations.

Burundian authorities have always denied detaining Jean Bigirimana.

A few weeks after his disappearance, two bodies were found in the Mubarazi River, not far from where the journalist is believed to have vanished. One of the bodies had been decapitated. After being asked to identify the remains, his wife, Godeberthe Hakizimana, stated that it was not her husband.

For years, she has been demanding DNA testing to establish the victims’ identities.

A family still waiting for the truth

Godeberthe Hakizimana now lives in exile with their two sons. She says she fled Burundi after receiving death threats.

She maintains that her husband received threats in the days leading up to his disappearance.

Interviewed by SOS Médias Burundi, she continues to demand that the relevant authorities conduct DNA testing on the two bodies found in the Mubarazi River.

“Many atrocities took place during this period.” “I’m not the only one who has suffered. Many families are living in turmoil. Only the truth will reconcile Burundians,” she says.

Despite the years spent away from Burundi, she still hopes to return one day.

“It’s our country,” she affirms.

She hopes that her husband’s story will never be forgotten.

“I want the truth to come out, I want justice to be served. I want the society to continue talking about it.”

RSF : an investigation announced but still no answers

Following the filing of a complaint against persons unknown by the newspaper Iwacu in August 2016, Burundian authorities announced the opening of an investigation by the Muramvya prosecutor’s office.

However, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the journalist’s colleagues and eyewitnesses who reportedly witnessed his arrest have never been questioned by the police.

Jeanne Lagarde, advocacy officer for RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa desk, believes the authorities have yet to provide answers regarding the progress of this investigation.

RSF reports having repeatedly attempted to contact the Attorney General, Rose Nkorerimana, the President of the Supreme Court of Burundi, Gamaliel Nkurunziza, and the Supreme Court spokesperson, Agnès Bangiricenge, without receiving a response.

The organization recalls that in July 2023, Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye declared : “We cannot live in a country where there is no justice.”

For RSF, ten years after the journalist’s disappearance, the lack of legal proceedings continues to fuel concerns.

“A man of law”

Before becoming a journalist, Jean Bigirimana studied law. He began his journalistic career in 2010 at the private radio station Rema FM.

After the station was destroyed during the crackdown that followed the attempted coup in 2015, he joined the Iwacu media group with other journalists to help “break the silence” that had settled in after the closure of independent media outlets.

A former colleague, quoted by RSF on condition of anonymity, describes a journalist committed to the principles of justice.

“Jean Bigirimana was a man of law.” He worked on legal cases and was passionate about environmental issues, climate change…

She believes his disappearance has profoundly impacted the profession.

“There is a before and an after Jean’s disappearance. It has instilled in us a sense of caution. But also a determination not to give up, to fight for uncompromising professional journalism, to be the voice of the voiceless and to address sensitive topics.”

The CPJ continues to call on Burundian authorities

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) continues to consider Jean Bigirimana a missing journalist and has been calling for answers regarding his fate for several years.

In July 2026, the CPJ reported that it had contacted Burundian authorities to obtain information on the progress of the investigation.

The organization states that the spokesperson for the Burundian government, Jérôme Niyonzima, directed them to the Attorney General’s office for any information related to the case.

The CPJ reports that it also contacted Pierre Nkurikiye, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, as well as Attorney General Rose Nkorerimana, to obtain a reaction to developments in the case. Neither official responded to the organization’s requests.

Iwacu, a newsroom regularly repressed

The disappearance of Jean Bigirimana comes amid intense pressure on independent media following the 2015 political crisis.

In October 2019, four Iwacu journalists were arrested in northwestern Burundi while covering an incursion by a Burundian armed group based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They spent 430 days in detention.

Iwacu’s website was also blocked in Burundi between 2017 and 2022. RSF supported the media outlet through its “Collateral Freedom” operation, creating several mirror sites to circumvent censorship. These violations are also detailed in RSF’s report “In the Shoes of a Great Lakes Journalist,” published in March 2026.

The disappearance of Jean Bigirimana remains one of the most emblematic cases of attacks on press freedom in this small East African nation. Ten years later, neither time nor silence has diminished the demands for truth, justice, and accountability voiced by his family, colleagues, and press freedom advocates.