Burundi ruling party youth sent for military training in Congo
YOUTHS affiliated to Burundi’s ruling party have been sent to the eastern Congo for military training, according to sources cited by Radio Humura.
“We are taken from various regions of the country to eastern Congo where we are trained to defend the country,” a youth who had escaped the training said on air.
The ruling party’s youth wing, known as Imbonerakure, has been classified by the UN as a militia, but Burundi’s ruling party and the government accuse the UN of being enemies of the party and its youth movement.
At least 200 youths are reported to be in the eastern Congo being trained to use weapons.
“When one looks around, it is as if Burundi leaders are preparing to fight. But who will they fight against? That is a question one can ask,” said Mireille Muzaninka, a political analyst.
In 2014, Burundi ruling party youths were also reportedly being trained in eastern Congo before they were chased from their bases there.
Burundi’s ruling party has not reacted to the allegations yet, but the opposition fears an increase in violence.
More than 1 200 people have been killed in Burundi, according to rights groups, although a government-backed commission says only 720 have been killed since April 2015, when the crisis began.
In March, Imbonerakure were filmed in the northern district of Ntega on the border with Rwanda while singing a chant calling on comrades to rape female opponents so that they could give birth to more Imbonerakure.
The ruling party said there would be an investigation into the chant. However, within a month, another group of ruling party youth sang the chant on their way to a meeting.
Last weekend, another chant began. This time, the youth called for those who didn’t want to join the ruling party to be set ablaze.
“Whether they like it or not we will burn them,” they sang.
Muzaninka said that if the youth were not contained, they would cause great harm to the country.
“If tomorrow they become uncontrollable, even the ruling party officers will be, like many of us, their victims.
“The youth need to be controlled and punished if they do wrong, but they are acting with impunity” Muzaninka said.
The UNHCR says at least 500 000 people will have fled the country by the end of this year.