Part IV: Investigation of Massacres and Other Related Serious Acts of Violence (Continued)

A. Geography and population

309. The Province of Kirundo is adjacent on the north and west to Rwanda, on the south to the Provinces of Ngozi and Muyinga, and on the west to the Province of Muyinga. It is divided into seven communes. It has a surface of around 1,711 square kilometers. The provincial capital, Kirundo, which is hardly more than a village, is located near the center of the province. A main asphalted road reaches the provincial capital from Ngozi. The province had a population of around 407,103 in 1990.

B. Claims and reports regarding events in the province

310. According to the FIDH report, violence in the province was comparatively limited, since the population remembered the massacres that had taken place in Commune Ntega in 1988, and people took flight to places of refuge. On the morning of Thursday, 21 October, the Governor met the Administrateur communal of Busoni. He was deposed in the afternoon by the military commander, who followed orders from Bujumbura.

C. Work of the Commission

311. For the reasons stated elsewhere in this report, field work in the Province of Kirundo had to be suspended shortly after it began. Only three working days were spent in the province. In the course of those three days, two camps for displaced persons were visited in the Communes of Kirundo and Vumbi. 31 witnesses were heard, some of them displaced Hutus or Twas that had been affiliated with UPRONA. No other field work was accomplished.

D. Communes of Kirundo and Vumbi

a) Description of the communes

312. The Commune of Kirundo has the provincial capital at its center. The Commune of Vumbi is located to the south of the Commune of Kirundo and crossed by the main highway from Ngozi. Its Chef-lieu, Vumbi, is on this road, at a distance of nine kilometers from the provincial capital.

b) Claims and reports

313. According to a document reflecting Tutsi views, 103 Tutsis were killed in the Commune of Kirundo, under the leadership of the FRODEBU authorities and leaders. In the Commune of Vumbi, the massacre of Tutsis started on Thursday, 21 October, and went on until the next Sunday. Lists of victims and authors were given.

c) Facts according to testimony

314. As, for the reason stated above, the testimony heard by the Commission provides a one sided view of events in the period under investigation, only a general summary is given below.

315. According to Tutsi and displaced Hutu and Twa witnesses, on Collines Cumba, Gakana, Gihosha, Mataka, Mutara, Mwenya, Rambo, and Rugero of the Commune Kirundo, and on Collines Kabuye, Kavumu, Mutoyi, Nyarikenke, Rugeri and Vumbi of Commune Vumbi, the local Hutu population, led by local FRODEBU leaders, blocked all roads on the morning of Thursday, 21 October. On some of these collines, Tutsis and UPRONA Hutus were taken hostage. Killing of Tutsis and UPRONA Hutus and Twas began in some collines on Thursday evening, after hearing on Radio Rwanda that President Ndadaye had been killed, in others on Friday. The killing went on for several days.

A. Geography and population

316. The Province of Muramvya is adjacent to the following Provinces: Kirundo to the north, Bubanza and Bujumbura to the west, Gitega to the east, and Bururi to the south. It is situated in the central highlands, with a steep, mountainous region to the west on the eastern slopes of the range dividing the Nile and Zaire basins. It is crossed by two important main paved highways: the road from Bujumbura to Gitega, which crosses it from west to east around the middle, passing through the provincial capital, the city of Muramvya, 48 kilometers distant from Bujumbura. The road to Kayanza and Rwanda forks out from this road in a northerly direction at Bugarama, 13 kilometers west of the city of Muramvya. Another main road, unsurfaced, that also goes from Bujumbura to Gitega, crosses the southern part of the province from west to east. On it, at Mwaro, there is an Army garrison. The province has an extension of around 1,530 square kilometers and, according to the 1990 census, had at the time a population of 440,000 inhabitants. No figures are obtainable regarding the proportion of Hutus to Tutsis, but in the southern and some eastern parts of the province the proportion of Tutsis is well over 15 percent, which is the estimated figure for the country as a whole. Muramvya is divided into eleven communes. The three communes investigated by the Commission, Kiganda, Mbuye and Rutegama are all situated in the northwest sector of the province. The southern part of the province was, according to reports, comparatively unaffected by massacres.

B. Claims and reports regarding events in the province

317. The Commission received several documents referring to events in Muramvya during the period under investigation, some covering the province as a whole, some dealing with specific localities. Some contained lists of victims or of perpetrators. Accounts were submitted by the two main political parties, UPRONA and FRODEBU and related groups, by Burundian human rights organizations, and by various associations claiming to represent victims and survivors.

318. According to the FIDH report, the Governor of Muramvya, a Tutsi belonging to FRODEBU, stated that he was awakened, at 2.30 a.m., on Thursday, 21 October, by a telephone call from the Governor of Gitega, who informed him that a coup d’Etat was underway. After trying unsuccessfully to contact the higher authorities in Bujumbura by telephone, he again telephoned the Governor of Gitega and they agreed to take action to have the roads blocked. To this end, he set out at 3 a.m., on the main highway that links Bujumbura to Gitega, and went first to Rutegama then, in the opposite direction, to Bugarama, stopping at various points along the way to give instructions. Back in the provincial capital, the Governor remained in his office, talking to local officials. The local military officers did not support the coup d’Etat. In the afternoon, warned that soldiers had arrived from Bujumbura with orders to kill him, he went into hiding until 26 October. He states that, although political and ethnic tensions were high, no killings took place in the provincial capital on that day.

319. Claims and reports regarding events in the communes that were investigated are referred to in each case.

C. Work of the Commission

320. After a first mission in November 1995, field work by the Commission went on continuously in the province from 27 February until 31 May 1996, with some interruptions caused by the repeated closing of the road from Bujumbura, 285 witnesses were heard, 169 Tutsis and 116 Hutus, including prisoners in the local prison and in Bujumbura. All the camps for displaced persons and most of the collines in each investigated commune were visited.

D. Commune of Kiganda

a) Description of the commune

321. The Commune of Kiganda is adjacent on the north to the Commune of Mbuye, on the west to the Commune of Muramvya, on the south to the Communes of Rusaka and Ndava, and on the east to the Commune of Rutegama. The main asphalted highway from Bujumbura to Gitega runs along its northern border, on the right bank of the River Mubarazi. It is divided into two zones: Gatabo to the north and Kiremba to the south. The Chef-lieu is about eight kilometers south from the main road, and some 40 kilometers from the provincial capital. The Army garrison at Mwaro is some 23 kilometers to the south, by secondary unsurfaced road.

b) Claims and reports

322. According to a report from SONERA and from an association claiming to represent victims, Tutsis were attacked and killed by Hutus on Thursday, 21 October, and the days following. The reports do not contain a detailed description of events, but list alleged perpetrators and victims. Both reports refer to Zone Gatabo, in the north. No massacres are reported in Zone Kiremba.

323. In the account published by FRODEBU it is reported that, on Friday, 22 October, and the following days, Hutus were invited to meetings by leading Tutsi figures and then fired upon by the military. It is also claimed that attacks on civilians by the military went on for a month. The account gives the names of some authors and victims of these acts.

c) Facts according to testimony

- Chef-lieu

324. According to all testimony, no violence took place in the Chef-lieu on Thursday, 21 October. During the day, fleeing Tutsis from the neighboring Commune of Rutegama began to arrive. A detachment of soldiers from the garrison at Mwaro, to the south, arrived in the evening. During the next day, fleeing Tutsis from Rutegama continued to arrive at the Chef-lieu. On Saturday, 23 October, two Hutus were killed by the troops, and Hutus began to flee the colline.

- Colline Gahweza

325. On Colline Gahweza, some 8 kilometers to the south of the Chef-lieu, no attacks on Tutsis were reported. On Saturday, 23 October, and the following days, according to Hutu witnesses, armed Tutsi civilians from the colline, together with Tutsis from other collines, carried out attacks against Hutus, killing men, women and children.

- Other collines to the south of the Chef-lieu

326. According to all witnesses, no violence against Tutsis took place in the collines situated to the south of the Chef-lieu.

- Colline Murambi

327. Colline Murambi is bordered on the north by the Mubarazi River and the main asphalted road, Gatabo, Chef-lieu of Zone Gatabo, is situated on this road. The rest of the colline to the south consists of a steep hill.

328. The Governor of Muramvya stopped at Gatabo in the early hours of Thursday, 21 October. Shortly after his passage, Hutus led by local FRODEBU leaders began to fell trees and cut bridges to block the roads. Tutsi males were gathered and made to help them. Some of these Tutsis returned home on the same day, while others were held at the Chef-lieu until Saturday, 23 October, when they were released unharmed.

329. On the hill to the south of Gatabo, Tutsis were not harmed during Thursday, 21 and Friday, 22 October. On Saturday, 23 October, however, Hutus who had participated in massacres in the neighboring Commune Rutegama, and who had arrived at Murambi fleeing the soldiers, led local Hutus in gathering the Tutsis in the house of a cooperative and then taking them to the Mubarazi River to be killed.

- Colline Nyagisozi

330. On Colline Nyagisozi, about three kilometers to the west of Gatabo, according to Tutsi witnesses, Hutus led by the Chef de zone took Tutsi males from their homes and killed them. Some were taken to the Mubarazi River to be killed.

- Colline Kivyeyi

331. On Colline Kivyeyi, about six kilometers to the southwest of Gatabo, according to Tutsi witnesses, Tutsi males were gathered by Hutus on Thursday, 21 October, and made to help them block the roads. The Tutsis were held captive through the night, and the next day taken to the Mubarazi River and killed there. A Hutu witness denied that Tutsis had been killed on the colline.

- Colline Martyazo

332. On Colline Martyazo, three kilometers to the south of Gatabo, according to Tutsi witnesses, on 23 October, Hutus, led by the Chef de colline, gathered Tutsi males, took them to the Mubarazi River, killed them, and then returned to pillage and burn their homes.

- Colline Kanegwa

333. On Colline Kanegwa, five kilometers to the south of Gatabo, according to Tutsi witnesses, both Hutus and Tutsis participated in cutting the roads on Thursday, 21 October. That night, however, Hutus surrounded the homes of Tutsis to prevent them from fleeing. The next day, the Tutsi men, women and children were captured and taken to the UPRONA office of the colline. The men and children were taken to a nearby river and killed. The women were raped and then killed.

E. Commune of Mbuye

a) Description of the commune

334. The Commune of Mbuye is adjacent on the north to the Province of Kayanza, on the east to the Province of Gitega, on the south to the Communes of Rutegama, Kiganda and Muramvya, and on the west to the Commune of Muramvya. Its Chef-lieu is situated near the northern border of the commune on the Colline Teka, some ten kilometers by unsurfaced road from the main asphalted that goes to Kayanza, and some 30 kilometers from the city of Muramvya.

b) Claims and reports

335. An account submitted by an association claiming to represent victims and survivors relates that, on Thursday, 21 October, the Administrateur communal held a meeting at the Chef-lieu at 10 a.m., with other FRODEBU leaders, after which groups of Hutus began to block the roads and prevent Tutsis from moving around freely.

336. On Friday afternoon. Tutsis were attacked by armed Hutus led the Chef de zone in Zone Gasura. The killing of Tutsis went on until Saturday.

337. Accounts submitted by another association and by SONERA agree with this description of the events.

338. A FRODEBU account states that on Thursday, 21 October, on Colline Kirembera, UPRONA Tutsis, armed with firearms, killed Hutu residents and pillaged their belongings.

339. On Sunday, 24 October, military units arrived, accompanied by Tutsi UPRONA students, and killed Hutus and destroyed their property. At the end of November of the same year, another wave of military raids began on the Collines of Buyaga, Teka, and Bigwana, causing numerous Hutu victims, some of which were buried in a mass grave in the marshes near Nyanza.

c) Facts according to testimony
- Chef-lieu

340. At the Chef-lieu, on Colline Teka, besides the office of the Administrateur communal, there are a "centre de négoce", consisting of some shops and a marketplace, a school and a church. A few policemen, armed with revolvers, guarded the Chef-lieu on Thursday, 21 October. According to Tutsi witnesses, that day, very early in the morning, the residents of Colline Teka heard from the Administrateur communal that President Ndadaye had been taken by the military. The Administrateur communal is reported to have spread this message through the surrounding collines, riding a motorcycle, taking the road leading to Kibumbu, passing by Buyaga, Bigwana, Kirika, and Kibumbu. Chefs de zone and chefs de secteur are also reported to have gone through the collines in the Zone Gasura, passing through the Colline Buhungura. In the course of the day, bridges were cut and trees felled to block the roads.

341. In the afternoon, the functionaries and teachers gathered together and collected into two groups according to ethnic origin. A group of young Hutu, reportedly organized by a schoolmaster, arrived, armed with machetes and clubs, and patrolled the colline until evening.

342. On Friday morning, a group of young armed Hutus arrived from the neighboring Colline of Buyaga and began attacking the Tutsis in the vicinity. There was a confrontation with the Tutsis at the Chef-lieu in which the local judge, a Tutsi, was attacked and wounded and was brought to a nearby hospital. In the afternoon, a Tutsi school teacher by the name of Basile was killed. The local police attempted to maintain order and even fired their weapons into the air, but were too few to be effective. Later in the afternoon another Tutsi was killed at the Chef-lieu.

343. A group of Tutsis that included women, children and old men sought refuge in the parish church. Some of the Tutsi teachers and functionaries managed to flee that night to the provincial capital.

344. On Saturday, 23 October, the killing of Tutsis continued. A group of armed Hutus arrived, menaced the priests and searched the church, but did not search the parish house where Tutsis were hidden.

345. On the other side of the Colline Teka, young armed Hutus are reported to have gathered Tutsi men in an eucalyptus grove and killed them, leaving their bodies on the ground. Women and children were not killed.

346. According to military sources, a patrol managed to reach the Chef-lieu on Friday, 22 October, and found armed Hutus congregated before the church, but they dispersed peacefully. The military then set up a camp for displaced Tutsis on the neighboring Colline Mbuye. They returned to the Chef-lieu on the following days without incidents. This account was confirmed by independent witnesses.

- Colline Bigwana

347. Colline Bigwana lies about 5 kilometers to the east of the Chef-lieu. On Thursday, 21 October, Hutus cut trees to block the roads. They beat a soldier who was on leave and prevented him from leaving the colline.

348. No deaths were reported to have occurred on the colline on Friday.

349. On Saturday, Tutsi men, women and children that had gathered in a single group were attacked by Hutus. Many were killed, including the soldier who had been beaten on Thursday. Attacks on Tutsis continued on Sunday and Monday. Houses belonging to Tutsis were burned. It was reported that attacks on Tutsis were instigated by Hutus from the Commune of Rutegama, who arrived in Bigwana on Friday evening.

- Colline Buhangura

350. On Colline Buhangura, about four kilometers south of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, Hutus killed the Tutsi men and male youths on Friday, 22 October. Some of the killers came from the neighboring Colline Mubuga. Hutu witnesses present the events as a violent confrontation between the two ethnic groups, due to Tutsi provocations, that began on Thursday, forcing many Hutus to flee, and that went on until the arrival of the military on Sunday, although there are no reports of Hutu victims during that time. They add that the soldiers shot at the population indiscriminately, even killing Tutsis.

- Colline Buyaga

351. Colline Buyaga is located some 3 kilometers east of the Chef-lieu.

352. According to Hutu witnesses, there were no killings on the colline on Thursday and Friday, although some Tutsi homes were burned by Hutus from the Commune Rango.

353. According to military sources, a patrol of 24 men coming from the Chef-lieu on Saturday, 23 October, had to open fire on Hutus defending a roadblock, killing three persons, including a woman. A Hutu witness stated, however, that the military called the Hutus to a meeting and then shot into the crowd. He claimed more than a hundred Hutus had been killed and showed the Commission a site, which he alleged is a mass grave where human bones were lying on the surface.

- Colline Kibumbu

354. On Colline Kibumbu, about eight kilometers to the northeast of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, the Administrateur communal arrived on a motorcycle on the morning of Thursday, 21 October, and gave instructions to local Hutus to block the roads. In the evening, Tutsis fleeing from the neighboring Colline Ngezi/Nete started arriving on the Colline Kibimbu. On Friday evening, Tutsis were attacked by Hutus and many were killed.

355. According to a Hutu witness, on that day an armed confrontation began between Hutus and Tutsis from the colline, who had been reinforced by Tutsis from another colline. The confrontation went on until Sunday, 24 October, when the soldiers arrived and killed 18 Hutus. These witnesses, however, could identify no Hutu victims of the alleged confrontation.

356. According to military sources, a military patrol went to Kibumbu on Wednesday, 27 October, to search for weapons. Hutu witnesses testified that on that day, the military opened fire on a group of Hutus, killing many.

- Colline Ngezi/Nete

357. On Colline Ngezi/Nete, some ten kilometers east of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, the Administrateur communal visited the colline on Thursday, 21 October, and shortly afterwards the Hutus blocked the roads with felled trees. The Tutsis gathered in a group for their own protection and were not attacked. The Hutus, led by a local FRODEBU leader, pillaged and burned the houses of the Tutsis. A Hutu witness ascribed these acts to people coming from other collines.

- Colline Taba

358. No Tutsi witnesses to events on the Colline Taba, ten kilometers to the east of the Chef-lieu, were heard. A Hutu witness who had fled the colline on Thursday, 21 October, testified that upon his return on the following Sunday, bodies of Tutsis were lying around and the houses belonging to Tutsis had been burned. Hutu witnesses claim to have been elsewhere or to have stayed home, and deny having witnessed any violent acts. They report that the military killed many Hutus upon the arrival on the colline some days later.

- Colline Masama

359. On Colline Masama, about eight kilometers to the south of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, in the evening of Thursday, 21 October, Hutus captured Tutsi men in their homes, took them to the River Mubarazi nearby and killed them there. The next day, Hutus, joined by some Twas, raped Tutsi women and killed them, together with their children. Some were burned to death inside houses. A site said to be a mass grave was shown to the Commission. Some Hutus helped Tutsi neighbors to escape.

F. Commune of Rutegama

a) Description of the commune

360. The Commune of Rutegama borders on the north with the Commune of Mbuye, on the west with the Commune of Kiganda, on the south with the Commune of Ndava, and on the east with the Commune of Ndava and the Province of Gitega. The main highway from Bujumbura to Gitega crosses it from west to east near its northern border. The Chef-lieu is located on this road at a distance of 30 kilometers from the provincial capital, and 35 kilometers from the city of Gitega.

b) Claims and reports

361. According to the FIHD report, the Governor admitted that Tutsis had been taken hostage during Thursday, 21 October, gathered at the Chef-lieu and killed in the evening, and that women and children had been killed the following day, estimating the number of dead at 200. The report states that Tutsi sources estimate the number of dead at over 1,000 and medical sources confirmed that nearly all Tutsis in the commune had been killed. Tutsi witnesses state that the Administrateur communal participated in these acts.

362. The report adds that on Sunday, 24 October, the military arrived from Mwaro and Gitega and for several days carried out a sweep of the hill, shooting at the population with heavy machine guns and killing and wounding hundreds. They ransacked and burned the shops at the Chef-lieu.

363. According to an account submitted by an association claiming to represent Tutsi and UPRONA Hutu victims, the Governor of Muramvya came in the early hours of Thursday, 21 October, and gave instructions to the Administrateur communal and the local FRODEBU leader. At daybreak, the Administrateur communal went around the commune, giving instructions to the local functionaries. Shortly afterwards, trees were felled and bridges destroyed to block the roads and a crowd of armed Hutus, including functionaries and Hutu militias, congregated at the Chef-lieu. The Administrateur communal then invited Tutsis and UPRONA Hutus to gather at the Chef-lieu for a meeting of reconciliation. Those who came were tied up at 2 p.m. The men were put in the communal hall and cells, the women in an office. The men were killed that same day, the women the next morning. The bodies were thrown into latrines or buried in mass graves.

364. On Colline Munanira, a group of Tutsi men, women and children were gathered by Hutus and put in the primary school at Kirehe. The Hutus then removed tiles from the roof and threw in lighted wood, burning some to death and asphyxiating others. Bodies were mutilated and thrown into the school’s latrines.

365. A report submitted by SONERA generally confirms these allegations and assigns direct responsibility to the Governor.

366. According to a FRODEBU report, 465 of its members were killed in the repression, and houses were burned and goods pillaged throughout the commune.

c) Facts according to testimony
- Chef-lieu

367. All sources agree that the Governor came to the Chef-lieu in the early hours of Thursday, 21 October, that he met there with the Administrateur communal, and that in the morning roads were blocked throughout the Commune.

368. A group of young Hutu members of a FRODEBU militia (INZARAGUHEMUKA) from a nearby colline, armed with machetes, is reported to have come to the Chef-lieu on Thursday morning, and to have conferred with the Administrateur communal before returning to their colline. According to accounts of Tutsi witnesses, generally confirmed by some Hutu witnesses, Tutsis from the Chef-lieu and the surrounding hills were gathered and put in the offices. Men were tied and put in the communal hall and detention cells, while women and children were put in a storage house. In the afternoon, the men were taken out and killed. Next morning, the women and children were killed.

369. Some FRODEBU Hutus that have been accused of participating in these events admit being present during the morning, but testified that they left when they saw the situation deteriorating.

- Colline Munanira

370. On Colline Munanira, according to Tutsi witnesses, Tutsi men, women and children were gathered and locked by Hutus in a schoolhouse in the evening of Thursday, 21 October. The following morning, the roof of the schoolhouse was set afire and all those inside were killed as they tried to escape. Hutu witnesses denied having been present at these events.

371. The Commission heard testimony from several persons cited as the perpetrators of this massacre; these persons denied having seen or having taken part in this massacre.

372. The Commission was prevented from visiting these sites during its investigation due to continuing insecurity in the area.

- Colline Nyarunazi

373. On Colline Nyarunazi, directly to the north of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, Hutus from the colline, assisted by Twas, gathered and tied up the Tutsis and took them to the Chef-lieu, where they were later killed. Tutsis were also killed at the schoolhouse of Kirehe.

- Colline Cumba

374. On Colline Cumba, two kilometers from the Chef-lieu on the main road, according to Tutsi witnesses, Tutsi males were gathered by Hutus on the morning of Thursday, 21 October, and taken to the Chef-lieu, where they were later killed. On Friday the remaining Tutsi men, women and children who did not manage to escape were killed.

375. According to Hutu witnesses, soldiers from Mwaru arrived on Saturday, 23 October, and fired on Hutus. A Hutu witness stated that they again killed Hutus four days later.

- Colline Nkonyovu

376. On Colline Nkonyovu, five kilometers to the northwest of the Chef-lieu on the main highway, according to Tutsi witnesses, Tutsi men were invited by Hutus to accompany them on patrols. They were then taken to the Chef-lieu, where they were later killed. Many of the remaining Tutsis gathered on a bar on the main highway. There, they were attacked by Hutus, but defended themselves and managed to escape to Gatwaro, in the Commune of Kiganda, some two kilometers to the northwest on the highway.

377. On Saturday, 23 October, soldiers with armored cars coming from the Chef-lieu, opened fire on Hutus along the highway, killing many. The soldiers again killed Hutus on the following Monday.

- Colline Bubanda

378. On Colline Bubanda, directly to the west of the chef-lieu, according to a Tutsi Witness, Tutsi men were captured and taken to the Chef-lieu on Thursday, 21 October.

- Colline Bupfunda

379. According to Tutsi witnesses, Colline Bupfunda, five kilometers to the west of the Chef-lieu, was visited early in the morning of Thursday, 21 October, by the Administrateur communal. On the morning of that day, the Tutsis were attacked by Hutus from the colline, aided by Hutus from the Colline Bubanda. Hutu witnesses from the colline testified they had been elsewhere when these events took place or that they had seen nothing.

380. The Commission heard several Hutus named by Tutsi witnesses as having taken part in the massacres of Tutsis. But in one case, the witness denied that he was present on the Colline Bupfunda at the time of these killings. In addition, the Commission determined that the Hutu witnesses of this colline avoided speaking of events that took place during the first three days after the assassination, 21-24 October. They claim that they saw nothing or that they had fled the first day.

- Colline Nyarukere

381. On Colline Nyarukere, three kilometers southwest of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, Hutus captured Tutsi men on Thursday, 21 October, and took them to the Chef-lieu, where they were killed. In the evening Tutsi men, women and children were killed in their homes and their bodies were thrown into latrines. Some Tutsi women were raped by Hutus and Twas before being killed. Killings of Tutsis continued until Sunday, 24 October.

- Colline Nyakararo

382. On Colline Nyakararo, five kilometers to the southwest of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, Hutus led by local FRODEBU leaders, started killing Tutsi men, women and children in the afternoon of Thursday, 21 October. They went on searching for escaped Tutsis and killing them until the following Saturday.

383. According to Hutu witnesses, soldiers arrived on Sunday, 24 October, accompanied by Tutsis from Colline Nyakararo, and killed many Hutus.

- Colline Muninya

384. On Colline Muninya, about three kilometers to the southwest of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, Hutus from the colline, aided by other Hutus from neighboring collines began killing Tutsis in their homes, in the afternoon of Thursday, 21 October.

- Colline Nyamitwenzi

385. On Colline Nyamitwenzi, about five kilometers to the west of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, Hutus captured Tutsi men in their homes and took them to the Chef-lieu, where they were killed. Attacks on Tutsis of both sexes and all ages went on until the following Monday. Some Tutsis managed to survive. Hutus from the Chef-lieu took part in the attacks. The military arrived two weeks later and rescued survivors.

- Colline Murinzi

386. On Colline Murinzi, about eight kilometers to the southwest of the Chef-lieu, several soldiers who happened to be at home were arrested on Thursday, 21 October. Next morning, a group of Hutus led by a local FRODEBU leader attacked Tutsis in their homes. Killing of Tutsis went on until Saturday, with the participation of Hutus from Colline Nyakararo.

- Colline Mushikamo

387. On Colline Mushikamo, about ten kilometers southwest of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi witnesses, in the afternoon of Thursday, 21 October, the FRODEBU authorities arrested ten Tutsis and held them in a cell in the Zone Mushikamo until they were freed by soldiers arriving on the next day. Other Tutsi witnesses testified that over fifty Tutsis were killed on the colline by Hutus.

- Colline Gashingwa

388. On Colline Gashingwa, about five kilometers to the south of the Chef-lieu, according to Tutsi testimony, Hutus led by the local FRODEBU functionaries took Tutsi males from their homes on Thursday, 21 October, and killed them on the route to Rutegama. Attacks on the remaining Tutsis continued until the following Monday, with the participation of Hutus and Twas from neighboring collines. The military arrived two weeks later and rescued Tutsi survivors.

A. Geography and population

389. The Province of Ngozi is adjacent on the north to Rwanda, on the west to the Province of Kayanza, on the south to the Provinces of Gitega and Karuzi, and on the east to the Provinces of Kirundo and Muyinga. It is situated on the central highlands, with steep hills and wide river valleys. The River Kanyaru runs along the Rwandese border. Ngozi is crossed from west to east around the middle by the main asphalted highway that goes from Bujumbura and Kayanza to Muyinga and Kirundo. Ngozi is divided into seven communes. Its capital is the city of Ngozi, with around 5,000 inhabitants, Burundi's third largest city, 136 kilometers from Bujumbura. It has an area of around 1,468 square kilometers and had, in 1990, a population of about 482,246. At present, practically all rural Tutsis live in camps for displaced persons, protected by the Army. The capital has a predominantly Tutsi population. There are several large refugee camps for some 20,000 Rwandese Hutus who fled after the 1994 genocide in that country, cared for by international organizations. In October 1993, a large number of Tutsi Rwandese refugees, who have since returned to their country, lived throughout the province.

B. Claims and reports regarding events in the province

390. According to the FIDH report, news of the coup d'Etat were broadcast by Radio Rwanda around 6 a.m., on Thursday, 21 October. The Governor of the province, having heard of the coup shortly before, went to visit some communes, including Gashikanwa and Kiremba. He returned in the afternoon, asking the population to demonstrate against the coup. In the afternoon of that day, a helicopter from Bujumbura brought a soldier from the airborne troops who conferred with the local military. The Governor was placed under house arrest around 5.30 p.m. Upon being reinstated on Saturday afternoon, he toured the province the following days in an effort of pacification.

391. The city of Ngozi, with two military camps, one for the Army and one for the Gendarmerie, served as a refuge for fleeing Tutsis. During the days following the coup, Tutsi civilians killed many Hutus openly, in the presence of the military. The military themselves are reported to have killed Hutus in the city.

C. Work of the Commission

392. Field work started on 23 February, and went on until 28 May. It was hampered by the fact that the Commissioner in charge worked alone until two investigators were assigned to the province in April and had at various times to do the field work in other provinces concurrently. Due to lack of resources and administrative delays at headquarters, permanent quarters in the provincial capital could only be obtained at the end of April. Until then, field work had to be carried on through day trips. Since road travel was limited to daylight hours and the trip from Bujumbura to Ngozi takes nearly three hours, the time available for field work was severely restricted. The road was closed on several occasions, due to security or other reasons. The Commission investigated four communes, hearing witnesses on collines, in five camps for displaced persons, in the provincial capital, in the prison and in Kenya. It heard 127 witnesses, 88 Tutsis, 34 Hutus and 5 Twas.

393. The investigation of the Commune of Ruhororo was limited. Areas adjoining the commune were the scene of frequent guerilla and Army activity during the Commission's stay in Burundi. For this reason, visits were limited to the camp for displaced persons in the Chef-lieu. Even there, after a demonstration took place against the United Nations in Bujumbura, further cooperation was denied to the Commission by the witnesses who had been contacted by the investigators. Testimony regarding events in Ruhororo was heard in the camp and from prisoners and other witnesses in the city of Ngozi.

D. Commune of Kiremba

a) Description of the commune

394. The Commune of Kiremba borders on the north with the Commune of Marangara, on the west with the Communes of Nyamurenza and Gashikanwa, on the south with the Commune of Kiremba, on the east with the Provinces of Muyinga and Kirundo. The main asphalted road from the city of Ngozi to Muyinga crosses it around the middle from west to east. The Chef-lieu is some ten kilometers from the main road by an unsurfaced road. The unsurfaced road reaches the main road at a point 20 kilometers distant from the city of Ngozi. As a result of the events of 1993, the Tutsis remaining in the commune are at present in two camps, one at the Chef-lieu and the other at Gakere, on the main road, 30 kilometers from the city of Ngozi. The collines are inhabited only by Hutus.

b) Claims and reports

395. According to the FIDH report, following the coup hundreds of people were massacred in Kiremba. On Collines Cayi, Ciri and Mufigi alone, there were more than 400 killed. The Administrateur communal gave orders to block the road after a visit from the Governor on the morning of Thursday, 21 October. Hutus started killing Tutsis that day after a late broadcast from Radio Rwanda. A Tutsi family was burnt alive on Colline Kidunda. Thirteen other families were gathered and massacred before the Lycée at the Chef-lieu.

396. The soldiers arrived at the Chef-lieu on Friday, 22 October, and killed several people. They then attacked Colline Gakere and killed 19 Hutus. On Colline Musasa, a mass grave was filled with their victims. Many Hutus were killed and left unburied around the camp that was set up for displaced Tutsis.

397. According to an account from a Tutsi association, in the Commune Kiremba, all Tutsis, except a few who managed to escape, were killed.

398. According to an account reflecting FRODFBU views, in spite of efforts by the Administrateur communal, who toured the collines to calm the people, some enraged Hutus massacred Tutsi neighbors during the night of 21 October, especially in the Zones Musasa and Gakere, as a reaction to hearing shots from the soldiers.

399. When the soldiers arrived the next day, they started to hunt and kill Hutus, especially FRODEBU members. The hunt went on into November.

400. According to a complaint by a Hutu, the Administrateur communal was tortured and killed in the marketplace by soldiers on Friday, 22 October, while Tutsis cheered. The soldiers also massacred Hutu women and children who had taken refuge in the hospital.

c) Facts according to testimony
- Colline Kiremba
Chef-lieu of Kiremba

401. A meeting that was to take place in the Chef-lieu on the morning of Thursday, 21 October, had been organized by the Governor of the province, a FRODEBU Tutsi. The Governor, having received news of the coup, arrived at the Chef-lieu on that day around 6 a.m., to call the meeting off. He had a meeting with local FRODEBU functionaries and party leaders. By that time, Radio Rwanda had already informed that there was a coup in Bujumbura.

402. Although there was considerable excitement, and the local authorities toured the collines, no acts of violence took place until the afternoon.

403. Around 3 p.m., the Governor returned and again had a meeting with the local authorities and FRODEBU party leaders. After asking the population to go to Ngozi to demonstrate in defense of democracy, he left again.

404. Around 5 p.m., the FRODEBU Hutus started cutting trees to bar the roads. Some shops in the center were ransacked.

405. In the evening, Radio Rwanda informed that President Ndadaye had been killed.

406. According to Tutsi witnesses, FRODEBU Hutus captured 14 Tutsi men in the Chef-lieu in the evening. Their bodies were found next day in a nearby field. One survived, badly wounded.

407. The military arrived on Friday morning. According to a Hutu witness, they shot at the Hutu population. Many Hutus fled to Rwanda.

408. Several of the witnesses heard at the camp in the Chef-lieu appeared to have been instructed to incriminate the former Governor in the massacres. When questioned, their statements contained numerous contradictions on many relevant facts.

- Colline Kibuye

409. Tutsi witnesses from Colline Kibuye, some five kilometers to the east of the Chef-lieu, stated that Tutsis were captured by Hutus, Thursday afternoon, and gathered in several places. After hearing on Radio Rwanda in the evening that President Ndadaye had been killed, they were killed by the Hutus. A woman testified that she had been raped, then wounded and left for dead. Some survivors stated that they owed their lives to Hutu friends.

410. A Tutsi and a Hutu witness testified that the soldiers, who arrived on Friday morning, shot indiscriminately at the Hutus.

- Colline Gatwaro

411. Several witnesses, of which one Hutu, from Colline Gatwaro, some 4 kilometers to the west of the Chef-lieu, reported widespread killing of Tutsis on Thursday evening. A woman reported having been raped, together with other Tutsi women who were later killed. - Colline Ngeramigongo

412. Tutsi witnesses from Colline Ngeramigongo, some 4 kilometers southwest of the Chef-lieu, but reachable only through a narrow dirt road, state that Hutus killed the Tutsis on Thursday night. A witness who is the daughter of a Tutsi father and a Hutu mother states that, having been wounded, she was saved by her mother and her Hutu relatives.

- Collines Masasu and Musumba

413. Tutsi witnesses from the Collines of Masasu and Musumba, on the unsurfaced road from the Chef-lieu to the asphalted road, stated that the Administrateur communal of Kiremba drove along the asphalted road, accompanied by other FRODEBU leaders, in the afternoon of Thursday, 21 October. Some time later, trees were cut to bar the roads. In the evening, Tutsis were attacked by Hutus.

- Colline Kibande

414. A Tutsi witness from Colline Kibande, 23 kilometers from the city of Ngozi on the main highway, stated that she was attacked in her house in the early evening of Thursday, 21 October. Her entire family was killed and she herself was badly wounded and left for dead.

- Colline Kiremera

415. According to a Hutu witness, on Colline Kiremera, 26 kilometers from the provincial capital on the main highway, Tutsis were massacred on the evening of Thursday, 21 October. A Hutu saved some by hiding them in a schoolhouse.

- Colline Gakere

416. According to Tutsi survivors from Colline Gakere, 28 kilometers from the provincial capital on the main highway, a large number of Tutsis that had congregated in the compound of a Tutsi named Kinunda were attacked on Thursday evening, but managed to repel the attack. Next morning they were surrounded by a large number of armed Hutus who killed all but a few who managed to escape.

- Colline Kiyange

417. On Colline Kiyange, 30 kilometers distant from the provincial capital on the main highway, according to a Tutsi witness, Tutsis were attacked on Thursday evening. The killing went on Friday morning, until the military arrived in midmorning.

- Colline Masoro

418. On Colline Masoro, to the south of Colline Kiyange, two kilometers from the asphalted road, according to a Hutu witness, the massacre of Tutsis began on Thursday evening, and went on the following days, since the military did not leave the main road.

E. Commune of Mwumba

a) Description of the commune

419. The Commune of Mwumba borders on the north with Rwanda, across the River Kanyaru, on the east with the Province of Kayanza, on the south with the Commune of Ngozi, and on the west with the Commune of Nyamurenza. The Chef-lieu is on Colline Buye, some eight kilometers from the city of Ngozi by an unsurfaced road. The Tutsi population of the commune is concentrated in two camps for displaced persons, one near the Chef-lieu and the other in Vyegwa, some three kilometers away in the direction of the city of Ngozi.

b) Claims and reports

420. According to the FIDH report, Tutsis in the commune were gathered and killed. On half of the collines alone, 712 Tutsis were killed. FRODEBU representatives came twice from the provincial capital, in the morning to have the roads blocked and in the afternoon, to order the capture of Tutsis. Thirty Tutsis were gathered in Kiziba and killed. Many Tutsis were killed and thrown into the River Kanyaru. UPRONA Hutus who had also been captured were freed unharmed. At Vyegwa, 48 bodies were found, on Colline Rwabiriro. On Colline Rwabiriro, Tutsis were killed in front of the primary school. In some cases, Hutus helped Tutsis to escape. On some collines, no Tutsis were killed.

421. The soldiers arrived in the commune on Friday, 22 October, and on the following day. At Kiziba, they gathered Hutu men, women and children and killed them. At Mushitsi, a mass grave was filled with their victims. 160 corpses were found at Vyegwa. Twas participated in the killing of Hutus.

422. According to an account from a Tutsi association, in Zone Mwumba, fifty Tutsis were killed on Colline Bakenke. Tutsis were gathered and killed at a school on Colline Karungura and at a "centre de négoce" at Kiziba. Fleeing Tutsis were gathered in a house in Vyegwa and killed.

c) Facts according to testimony
- Colline Buye

423. According to Hutu and Tutsi witnesses, on Colline Buye, where the Chef-lieu is located, the roads were blocked on the morning of Thursday, 21 October. In the afternoon, Hutus led by local FRODEBU functionaries and leaders began to attack the Tutsis and UPRONA Hutus. Some were locked up at the commune, but in the evening, after some were taken out, presumably to be killed, the others broke out. Some managed to flee in the darkness.

424. As the Hutus started to attack Tutsis around the Chef-lieu, many attempted to flee cross-country to the provincial capital to the south, down the hill and across the flat valley of the River Nkaka.

425. Many were captured in the valley and brought to the house of a Tutsi, Nazaire Nsabiyimana, who was away in these days, which is located some 1.5 kilometers from the road to the provincial capital. There, they were locked up together with other Tutsis from the vicinity that had already been captured.

426. On the morning of the next day, the captives were killed. Their bodies were thrown in nearby ditches and latrines and are reported to be still there. Some FRODEBU Hutus who had been also captured were not killed.

- Colline Gitasi

427. Colline Gitasi borders the unsurfaced road from the provincial capital to the Chef-lieu. According to the testimony of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa witnesses, at Vyegwa, on this road, where there are some houses and a goat breeding station, the Hutus had a meeting on the morning of Thursday, led by the local FRODEBU authorities and leaders. After this meeting, they started felling trees and cutting bridges to block all roads.

428. Later that day, the Hutus started gathering Tutsi hostages from the surrounding area and gathering them at Vyegwa, from where they took them to the offices at Zone Mwumba. There, they were later killed, as reported below.

429. A Tutsi witness stated that, on a higher part of the colline, Tutsis were attacked by Hutus on that same day. She was hit on the head with a hammer and left for dead.

- Colline Mwumba

430. The offices of the Zone Mwumba (not to be confused with the Chef-lieu, which is on Colline Buye) are located on Colline Mwumba, some 12 kilometers from the city of Ngozi.

431. According to Hutu, Tutsi and Twa witnesses, on the morning of Thursday, 21 October, Hutus led by the local FRODEBU authorities and party leaders started cutting the roads by felling trees and destroying bridges. Around noon, they started rounding up the Tutsis and UPRONA Hutus and Twas and bringing them to the zone offices, where they were locked up in a building that served as a jail. Around 9 p.m., they called out two brothers and killed them. They called others out, but they refused to come out. They then threw stones inside the building. Some managed to break out. Many were killed. The bodies are reported to be buried next to the "cachot".

432. Several witnesses who claimed to have escaped from the cachot, while agreeing on these facts, contradicted each other in many aspects.

433. The soldiers arrived on Friday morning. According to a Hutu witness, they shot at the Hutus indiscriminately, killing many.

- Colline Nzove

434. A "centre de négoce" at Kiziba is located on Colline Nzove, some 6 kilometers away from the Chef-lieu of the Commune Mwumba, and about 15 kilometers from the city of Ngozi. It consists of some 30 houses built around a central marketplace and slaughterhouse. The houses, all of which are now in ruins (except for one that was recently rebuilt) were shops and administrative offices.

435. According to Hutu, Tutsi and Twa witnesses, on Thursday, 21 October, after hearing on the Rwandese radio that President Ndadaye had been taken by the military, Hutu farmers, led by the local FRODEBU functionaries and party leaders, cut trees to bar the roads and gathered the Tutsis, including Rwandese refugees, from the surrounding Collines Nzove, Muremera and Gatsinda, pillaged their property, and locked them up in a house called "Maison de Société des Maraîchers".

436. Around 8 p.m., they began to kill them. They took them out, tied by threes, killed them and threw the bodies in adjoining ditches and latrines. The bodies are reported to be still there. The killing went on until 3 a.m., on Friday. Some escaped. A witness stated that he bribed a Hutu to release him. Two others stated that they were left for dead, unconscious, in a ditch and that they recovered consciousness around 2 a.m., on Friday, when it started raining. The Administrateur communal of Mwumba is reported to have passed through on his motorcycle, on his way to Rwanda, in the evening before the killings took place. It was raining. He is reported by a Twa witness to have pleaded in vain for the release of the Rwandese.

437. According to Hutu and Twa witnesses, the soldiers arrived the following Saturday. The Hutu men had fled to Rwanda. The soldiers gathered the remaining Hutu old men and women, as well as the Twa, and offered them beer in Mbatari's Bar. They then took the Hutus to the shop of a Hutu named Mudagi, who had fled. They then massacred them.

- Colline Karungura

438. According to Tutsi witnesses, on Thursday afternoon, Tutsis from Colline Gakenke were taken by Hutus, led by local FRODEBU authorities and party leaders, to a schoolhouse on Colline Karungura. They were tied up and killed around 9 p.m. Their bodies are reported to be buried in the latrine.

439. According to Tutsi and Hutu witnesses, Tutsis from the Hima clan gathered together and succeeded in defending themselves from attacking Hutus.

- Collines Cahi and Gatsinda

440. Tutsi witnesses from Collines Cahi and Gatsinda, located in the northern part of the commune, stated that they had been captured in their homes in the afternoon of Thursday, 21 October, by FRODEBU Hutus, gathered in groups with other captive Tutsis, and taken to the River Kanyaru, bordering on Rwanda, to be killed in the evening. All witnesses stated that, while many were killed, they themselves had been helped to escape by Hutus. A Hutu witness confirmed that Tutsis had been killed at the River Kanyaru.

F. Commune of Ruhororo

a) Description of the commune

441. The Commune of Ruhororo borders on the north with the communes of Ngozi, Gashikanwa and Tangara, on the southeast with the Province of Kayanza, on the south with the Province of Gitega and on the southwest with the Province of Karuzi. Its Chef-lieu is in the south of the commune, 25 kilometers from the city of Ngozi by a good unsurfaced road that leads to Gitega.

b) Claims and reports

442. According to an account from a Tutsi association, the Administrateur communal of Ruhororo had Tutsis captured and gathered to be killed.

443. According to a report reflecting FRODEBU views, on Friday, 22 October, soldiers accompanied by Tutsi civilians captured Hutus on Collines Ntiba and Gitwe. They killed some 15, plus others along the way. The next day, they killed eight Hutus on Colline Banda. On Sunday, they killed 26 people on Colline Taba. About ten Hutus were killed at Gisha on 7 November.

c) Facts according to testimony
- Colline Rwamiko
Chef-lieu

444. According to Tutsi witnesses, a FRODEBU leader from Ngozi is reported to have arrived in a pick-up truck at the Chef-lieu in the early afternoon of Thursday, 21 October, and conferred with the Administrateur communal. Shortly afterwards, FRODEBU Hutus felled trees to cut the roads. Tutsis were gathered from the surrounding collines and held in the administrative building. The FRODEBU leader admitted having transported Tutsis to the Chef-lieu, but said it was for their protection. In the evening, the captive Tutsis were taken to the Ruvubu River, some 500 meters away and killed. Some UPRONA Hutus who had also been captured were not killed.

445. The military arrived at the Chef-lieu in the afternoon of the next day, after clearing the road of felled trees with a tractor. They found dead and wounded Tutsis all along the road.

446. According to Hutu witnesses, they fired indiscriminately at Hutus along the way and at the Chef-lieu, killing many.

447. A Hutu witness stated that on Thursday, 21 October, and the following day, the military went on killing Hutus of both sexes and all ages on the collines away from the main road, among them Cagura, Kabuye and the collines of Zone Mubanga to the north.

- Colline Bucamihigo

448. According to a Hutu witness, Tutsi males on Colline Bucamihigo were gathered on Thursday, by Hutus led by a FRODEBU leader and taken to the Chef-lieu, where they were later killed.

449. According to the same witness, soldiers killed 41 Hutus on the colline on the following day.

- Colline Kabuye

450. Colline Kabuye is some four kilometers from the Chef-lieu. According to a Tutsi witness, Tutsi males, among them the teachers at the school, were captured and taken away by Hutus on Thursday, 21 October.

451. According to a Hutu witness, the military killed many Hutu men, women and children on the colline in the following days.

G. Commune of Tangara

a) Description of the commune

452. The Commune of Tangara borders on the north with the Commune of Kiremba, on the west with the Communes of Gashikanwe and Ruhororo, on the south with the Province of Karuzi and on the west with the Province of Muyinga. It is not crossed or bordered by any main road. The Chef-lieu is at Musenyi, connected by 12 kilometers of secondary unsurfaced road, through the Commune of Kiremba, to the asphalted road at a point 30 kilometers distant from the city of Ngozi.

b) Claims and reports

453. According to the FIDH report, few massacres took place in the commune, and they were the work of people from outside the commune. A group of Hutus from Commune Kiremba killed thirty Tutsis; Hutus from Commune Ruhororo killed eight Tutsis on Colline Nyagesebeyi on Saturday, 23 October; and Hutus from the Province of Karuzi killed some 50 Tutsis on the Collines Ruyogoro, Gikingo and Murumba the following Wednesday.

454. On Saturday, 23 October, the soldiers killed 18 Hutus on Colline Nyagesebeyi. On the following Monday, they attacked the Collines Mugirampeke, Gasekanya and Bomba, killing 58 people.

455. According to an account from a Tutsi association, in Commune Tangara killers came from neighboring communes but, in general, few Tutsi were killed due to the efforts of the Administrateur communal.

c) Facts according to testimony

456. In contrast with all surrounding communes, no Tutsis were killed in October 1993 in the Commune of Tangara, except in some collines bordering on other communes or provinces.

- Chef-lieu

457. On 21 October, the Administrateur communal, a FRODEBU Tutsi (now in jail in Ngozi), having heard of the coup through Radio Rwanda and unable to communicate with the provincial capital, went around the commune on a motorcycle on Thursday, 21 October, asking people to remain calm. No roads were cut, no hostages were taken and no one was killed on that day. On Friday, Tutsis who had escaped the widespread massacres in the Commune of Ruhororo began to arrive at Musenyi. The military arrived on Friday evening.

- Collines Bomba, Mugirampeke, Muramba and Ruyogoro.

458. According to Tutsi witnesses, on Friday, 22 October, and on the two following days, Tutsi males of all ages were killed on the Collines of Bomba, Mugirampeke, Muramba and Ruyogoro, all bordering the Province of Karuzi, at the instigation of Hutus coming from that province, in which widespread massacres of Tutsis had taken place. Tutsi women were prevented from leaving.

459. The soldiers were unable to reach those collines. The arrival of armed Hutus from Karuzi on Colline Bomba was confirmed by a Hutu witness.

- Colline Butezi

460. On the colline Butezi, bordering on Commune Kiremba, the Tutsi males were killed on Saturday. Tutsi women were also prevented from leaving.

- Colline Nyagasebeyi

461. According to a Hutu witness, the military shot indiscriminately at Hutus on Saturday, 23 October, near the border with Commune Ruhororo.

462. With the exception of the collines mentioned, and some other outlying collines, Tutsis and Hutus went on living side by side on the collines.

463. While, as has been stated above, the Commission's investigation was restricted by circumstances and the reliability of witnesses was questionable, the mass of testimony revealed certain patterns to the Commission and allowed it to reach some conclusions.

464. According not only to the testimony of witnesses from both ethnic groups, but also to all reports, it is an established fact that, as soon as the news of the coup reached the interior, all roads were barred throughout most of the country by the felling of trees and the cutting of bridges. Even some local authorities of the time, now in prison, testified to having received orders from their superiors to put the population to do this work. This activity, as far as the Commission could determine, had no precedent in Burundi.

465. In most of the communes investigated the barring of the roads was shortly followed, in places within the reach of Hutu Government or FRODEBU authorities at the commune level, by the capture of all adult Tutsi males and, in some cases, of UPRONA Hutus, and their concentration in specific places where they were held as hostages.

466. The killing of these hostages began for the most part after it was learned, mostly through the Rwandese radio, that President Ndadaye had been killed. It was carried out in some places on the evening of Thursday 21 October, while in others it was postponed until daylight the next day. Few of the UPRONA Hutu hostages were killed.

467. In places where hostages were killed, the killing for the most part soon extended to all Tutsi women and children, as well as to the ransacking and burning of Tutsi homes. The massacre of Tutsis of both sexes and all ages then spread out in widening circles from these places. In some places the lives of Tutsi women was spared, although they were often raped or kept captive.

468. The soldiers and gendarmes set out from their bases on Thursday, 21 October, along main roads, laboriously clearing them of felled trees and setting up emergency bridges. As they reached places where massacres of Tutsis had taken place, they rescued survivors and for the most part engaged in indiscriminate killing of Hutus, often aided by the survivors themselves. They went on to clear secondary roads, a task which took them several days, carrying on with the rescue of Tutsis and the indiscriminate repression of Hutus. Some collines were never reached by the soldiers.

469. As the military spread out from points on the main roads, many Hutus fled to still inaccessible collines. The killers among them spread the massacre of Tutsis to collines that had not yet been affected by the violence, so that during Friday, 22 October, and the following days, both the killing of Tutsis by Hutus and the killing of Hutus by the soldiers spread out in two simultaneous, widening circles.

470. Practically all testimonies coincide in that, in the communes investigated, Hutus and Tutsis were living peacefully together side by side in the collines before 21 October, even though the electoral campaign and the replacement of almost all local UPRONA authorities by members of the FRODEBU had generated some ethnic tension. Social relations had been normal and intermarriage frequent. A considerable proportion of Tutsi survivors testified that they owed their lives to Hutu relatives, neighbors or friends who protected them, often at the risk of their own lives.

471. While many Hutu witnesses made reference to the bloody persecution of Hutus in 1972, none accused their Tutsi neighbors of having personally participated in these acts. The persecution and the political suppression of Hutus was the work of the military dictatorships, in which the local Tutsi farmers as such did not play a significant role.

472. While it is undeniable that Hutus constitute a social, economic and educational underclass, the differences in status, wealth and education between Tutsi and Hutu subsistence farmers on the same colline were not considerable.

473. These considerations lead the Commission to conclude that the wholesale massacre of Tutsi men, women and children in the collines throughout the country could not be imputed to a simultaneous spontaneous reaction of the mass of Hutu farmers against their neighbors. The fact, established by evidence, that many simple Hutu farmers did take part in the massacres can only be attributed to the incitation and example of their leaders, whose presence and activity wherever such massacres took place is overwhelmingly established by the evidence.

474. The question arises of how some of these normally peaceful Hutu farmers could be led to take part in the massacre of their Tutsi neighbors. The Commission believes that an important motivating factor was hunger for land.

475. It cannot be overemphasized that Burundi is the most overpopulated country in Africa, and sustains an annual population growth rate of over 2.5 percent. Over 90 percent of the population derives its sole subsistence from the land. Families live on their minuscule plots. As the numerous children grow, marry and in turn have children, the family plot can no longer support them. There are practically no opportunities for work outside farming. Almost every inch of arable land is intensively cultivated and there is no land available for settling. Opportunities for emigration are almost non-existent. In the northern half of the country, where almost all of the massacres took place, former pasture land has almost completely come under cultivation, so that Tutsis, for the most part, were also farmers. Even though some Tutsis and Hutus still kept some cattle, it was mostly for status purposes.

476. The immense pressure resulting from this state of affairs could create a powerful temptation in desperately poor farmers to appropriate the belongings of their neighbors and take over their plots of land. This temptation could be exploited by their leaders. It can be noted in this connection that the pillaging of Tutsi property began almost everywhere as the hostages were being captured, before killings had taken place.

477. As to what could have inspired the leaders of these massacres down to the local level, the Commission believes that account should be taken of the Rwanda example, ever present in the minds of Burundians, both Hutu and Tutsi. The Hutu regime in Rwanda, established since independence and still in power at the time of the events in Burundi, had carried out several massacres of Tutsis. The attitude of Rwandese Hutus in power regarding Tutsis was to be tragically brought before world opinion in the genocide that was to take place the following year, and that has been found to have been planned in advance. Leaders of FRODEBU at all levels, including the founders, had spent years of exile in Rwanda after 1972. FRODEBU received strong support since its creation from the Rwandese President and his party. All this could not fail to affect Hutu FRODEBU leaders down to the local level.

478. A great mass of testimony and other evidence points to certain Hutu FRODEBU functionaries and leaders up to commune level as instigators of the massacre of Tutsis in all the places investigated by the Commission where such massacres took place. As to whether they acted of their own initiative or were obeying orders or a preestablished plan, no conclusion is justified by the evidence at hand. There is no direct evidence to support either conclusion, and the indirect evidence can be construed in either sense. While, on the one hand, it can be taken to indicate that local leaders acted on orders previously received from above, it is not inconceivable, on the other hand, that those leaders, having learned, after a day of indescribable stress, that President Ndadaye had been killed and believing their Government irretrievably lost, could have proceeded, on their own initiative, in different parts of the country, to kill the Tutsi hostages. Once the hostages had been killed, it was a short step to the wholesale massacre of women and children.

479. The same cannot be said regarding the acts of hostage taking. Such acts were unprecedented in Burundi, or even in Rwanda, as far as the Commission could determine. They took place simultaneously in places where there were no means of communication. They were uniformly directed against all Tutsi men and youths, regardless of their political affiliation. They took place shortly after news of the military coup and the President's captivity was learned by local FRODEBU functionaries and leaders, and before they could know if the coup had succeeded or whether the President was still alive. It defies belief that such acts could be a simultaneous, spontaneous local invention.

480. It is moreover impossible to find at the merely local level a coherent purpose for the act of hostage taking. Hostages are, by definition, taken in order to pressure an adversary into a given conduct. A local leader had no one to negotiate with. Stopping the military coup or liberating President Ndadaye could only be negotiated in Bujumbura. To this end only widespread, simultaneous hostage taking throughout the country could be a base for negotiation.

481. Where the massacre of Tutsis took place, it was not merely a hostile act by one political or ethnic group against another, but an effort to completely destroy the Tutsi ethnic group. Tutsis were not simply killed in a spurt of violence, but systematically hunted. That, in some instances, Tutsi women were allowed to survive can be explained by the fact that, in Burundi, an ethnic group cannot be perpetuated by women, since all children are born into their father's ethnic group. In some instances, Hutus were taken as hostages along with the Tutsis, but it was only Hutus who were prominently affiliated with UPRONA, while in the case of Tutsis the political affiliation was irrelevant. Most of the UPRONA Hutus, although severely mistreated, were not killed. The leaders who had begun the massacres in one place went on spreading them to as yet untouched places even as they fled.

482. Under Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the act of killing members of an ethnic group with the intent to destroy it in whole or in part constitutes genocide. The fact that Burundi has not ratified this Convention is irrelevant, since its provisions have become part of international customary law, and are jus cogens.

483. The Commission considers that evidence is sufficient to establish that acts of genocide against the Tutsi minority took place in Burundi on 21 October 1993, and the days following, at the instigation and with the participation of certain Hutu FRODEBU functionaries and leaders up to commune level.

484. The Commission considers that the evidence is insufficient to determine whether or not these acts of genocide were planned or ordered by leaders at a higher level.

485. The Commission considers that, although it did not obtain, nor could it under the circumstances be expected to obtain, direct testimonial or documentary evidence to support it, circumstantial evidence is sufficient to warrant the conclusion that some highly placed members of FRODEBU had planned in advance a response to the very real eventuality of a coup by the Army, that such response included, together with blocking roads and arming Hutus, the taking of male Tutsi adults and youths as hostages, and that this plan had been made known in advance to certain local FRODEBU members in positions of leadership down to the level of the communes.

486. The Commission considers that the evidence shows that indiscriminate killing of Hutu men, women and children was carried out by members of the Burundian Army and Gendarmerie, and by Tutsi civilians. Although no evidence was obtained to indicate that the repression was centrally planned or ordered, it is an established fact that no effort was made by the military authorities at any level of command to prevent, stop, investigate or punish such acts. The Commission considers that this failure to act engages the responsibility of those military authorities with regard to such acts.

487. The Commission considers that, with the evidence at hand, it is not in a position to identify by name the persons that should be brought to justice for the acts to which these conclusions refer.