VI. FNL Abuses: Repression as Political Strategy  

FNL leaders, like their government and CNDD-FDD counterparts, have authorized killings and other acts of violence, including abductions, and have failed to prevent their members from committing other crimes. They have carried out armed attacks on camps housing alleged “dissident” members in order to send a political message that they do not tolerate the existence of these groups. They have abducted police, soldiers, intelligence agents, and civilians close to CNDD-FDD, killing at least one, while others have been held as hostages. Even after the FNL began the process of transformation into a political party in early 2009, they murdered one civilian JPH member and abducted and tortured another because the two had expressed dissenting views.

Until March 2009 FNL leaders did not cooperate with police to arrest FNL members suspected of criminal activity, nor did they take sufficient steps to discipline FNL members implicated in murders or robberies. However, in a welcome development towards the end of March, this policy appears to have changed as leaders assisted police in arresting several FNL combatants who were wanted for crimes, among them, Isaac Manirakiza (aka “Sénégalais”), the Commander of the Rukoko camp.[137] However, as yet no one has been arrested for the crimes described in this chapter. None of these crimes qualify for “provisional immunity,” as they all occurred after the ceasefire agreement of September 2006.

Armed Attacks on Dissident Combatants as “Self-Defense”

In late 2007 and early 2008, the FNL carried out killings in order to intimidate or eliminate what it perceived as “competition.” Though the FNL has denied responsibility for killings of individuals close to the CNDD-FDD described in the case studies above, it has acknowledged responsibility for a series of attacks carried out on a group known in Burundi as the “alleged FNL dissidents.” This group claimed to have left the FNL in order to pursue peace.[138]FNLspokesperson Pasteur Habimana has characterized attacks on them as “self-defense,” because the group’s existence was seen as a threat to Palipehutu-FNL’s identity.[139]

In August 2007, shortly after the FNL left ceasefire talks, an armed group claiming to be composed of FNL fighters established a makeshift camp in the Bujumbura suburb of Buterere.[140] They said that they rejected the leadership of Agathon Rwasa and, as the “true” FNL, wanted to continue negotiations.[141] The main FNL said the group did not consist of real FNL fighters and said they had been recruited by the government to provide a compliant partner in negotiations.[142] 

In September and October 2007, the FNL attacked the alleged dissidents on multiple occasions, first in Buterere and again after the vast majority turned in their weapons and moved to camps protected by FDN soldiers and African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops.[143] The attacks on dissident camps at Buterere on September 3, Rugazi on September 25, and Gakungwe on October 21 killed 29 unarmed dissidents and one civilian. At Gakungwe, FNL fighters decapitated dissidents and left their heads along the road, a clear message to dissidents or potential defectors.[144] 

In addition to military attacks on the camps, the dissidents also said the FNL had carried out a series of targeted assassinations of their members, though the FNL has denied this claim.[145] On October 2, 2007, FNL fighters killed eight combatants in the Kibira attempting to defect from the movement.[146] On October 13 unidentified assailants fired on dissident leaders who were leaving a meeting at the Hotel Albatross in Bujumbura, killing three and seriously wounding another.[147] According to a dissident leader, at least four other dissidents were killed between November 2007 and March 2008.[148] Police investigations into these various attacks did not result in any criminal charges.

FNL spokesperson Pasteur Habimana accepted responsibility for attacks on the camps. He made the broad claim that these operations were “legitimate self-defense,” essential to assuring exclusive use of the name Palipehutu-FNL for his group, and essential for protecting their leader Rwasa. According to Habimana, the government was responsible for increasing the number of dissidents and locating dissident camps near FNL posts, measures intended to weaken his movement.[149]

Regardless of whether the government had encouraged the formation of the FNL dissidents, FNL attacks and the killing of unarmed persons constitute serious crimes. They also set a dangerous precedent, sending a message to FNL troops that even in times of relative peace, violence was an acceptable solution to political disagreement.

Abductions and Attacks on Civilians

FNL members have also been responsible for a number of abductions of civilians, police officers, and soldiers. Abductees have almost invariably been taken into the Rukoko or Kibira forests, areas controlled by the FNL. Some abductions were apparently ordered by the FNL leadership, as their releases were secured by high-level negotiations in Dar es Salaam.[150] Others, especially many of the more recent cases, appear to have been carried out without the leadership’s knowledge, suggesting a lack of discipline within FNL ranks. In the past, the FNL has exercised tight control from the center. However, this control decreased in late 2007 and early 2008, when increased numbers of rapes, cases of assault, and robberies were also attributed to FNL members, many of them recent recruits.[151] The police and prosecutors’ unwillingness or inability to penetrate the movement allowed such crimes to be carried out with impunity.[152]

The FNL abducted at least four civilians and several police officers and soldiers in late 2007 and early 2008 with a view to exchanging them for FNL fighters in official custody. For example, Léonidas Ndereyimana, a local official from Bubanza commune, was abducted in October 2007 and held for two days. Elie Nzobandora and Désiré Sindayigaya were abducted in December 2007 and January 2008 respectively. They were held in Rukoko forest until February, when their freedom was brokered by a Burundian businessman. An SNR agent, Samuel Baphumeko, and an FDN soldier, Ngomirakiza, were being held in Rukoko at the same time as Nzobandora and Sindayigaya.[153]  The teenage daughter of a CNDD-FDD official in Musigati commune, Bubanza province, was abducted in February 2008. She was beaten and held hostage in the Kibira forest for two days until her father paid a ransom.[154]

In Kanyosha commune in Bujumbura, also in February 2008, FNL members abducted VG and two other men because they were suspected of working for the SNR. When an FNL member present recognized one of the victims and confirmed that he did not work for the SNR, the men were released.[155] 

Abductions ceased temporarily with the resumption of negotiations in May 2008 but resumed again in November, after a number of Palipehutu-FNL members were arrested for participating in unauthorized protests on October 27. On November 13, 2008, combatants based at Kibuye colline, a pre-assembly site[156] in Rugazi commune, Bubanza province, abducted a health center manager.[157] He was held until December 26 when he was freed in exchange for two FNL members held in Bubanza prison. Senior FNL officials in Bujumbura said they were unaware of the hostage-taking for weeks.[158]

FNL combatants were suspected of being behind the abduction of a local official, Alphonse Shikamiro, in Gihanga commune, Bubanza province on November 4, 2008.[159] A senior FNL official denied the movement’s responsibility, but the Kibuye case demonstrated that leaders were not necessarily in control of local events. Shikamiro’s whereabouts and state of well-being were unknown at the time of this writing; police and administrative authorities said he was believed to have been taken to the FNL base in Rukoko forest and killed.[160] Later in November, two soldiers were abducted and seriously beaten by FNL members demanding the release of prisoners. They were released the same day after intervention by an FNL commander.[161]

Killings and Abductions of JPH Members Suspected of Dissent

On January 27, 2009, at a moment when peace negotiations were moving forward and the newly renamed FNL had undertaken the process of registering as a political party, the Burundian radio station Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) received a communiqué from a person who identified himself as Gédéon Uwisezerano, who claimed to be writing on behalf of the “Palipehutu-FNL.” He said he represented a group of combatants that had rejected the name change as well as other compromises made in the negotiations, and that FNL leaders Jacques Bigirimana, Pasteur Habimana, and Anatole Bacanamwo were “no longer recognized by the Palipehutu-FNL.”[162] In a subsequent interview with RPA, “Uwisezerano” (revealed to the journalist as an alias) claimed to be supported by other FNL leaders, Jonas Nshimirimana and Ibrahim Ntakirutimana. He gave FNL chairman Agathon Rwasa a month to determine which side he was on.[163]

FNL leaders publicly denounced the letter in a joint television appearance, and few observers of the peace process appeared to take the letter very seriously. But on January 31 FNL combatants abducted Jean Baptiste Nsabimana, a civilian JPH member from Buterere who had publicly questioned the name change. FNL combatants, under the direction of FNL commander Antoine Bariyanka (known as “Shoot” or “Shuti”), forced him into a Prado Land Cruiser, one of 40 vehicles provided by the South African-led facilitation for the use of the FNL during the peace negotiations. A South African peacekeeper was in the vehicle and observed the abduction. Nsabimana was taken to the Rukoko forest, interrogated about his possible role in what the FNL saw as an attempted internal coup, and tortured.[164] When contacted by a Human Rights Watch researcher several hours after the abduction, FNL spokesperson Pasteur Habimana denied knowledge of the incident, but assured the researcher that if combatants in the Rukoko had in fact taken hostages, he would ensure that they were not ill-treated.[165] Nsabimana was released a week later.

In the meantime, on February 2, FNL combatants abducted Abraham Ngendakumana, another JPH member from Buterere. He was taken from his home by approximately six combatants. A witness identified one as “Bakary.” His wife contacted the police the same night, who said they could not do anything because it was “an internal FNL matter.” Police officials gave her the phone number of the FNL “military chief of staff,” Ibrahim Ntakirutimana, whom she contacted the following day. On February 4 she received a letter signed “FNL,” warning her to “stop making noise.” On February 6 Ngendakumana’s body was found in Mubone zone (Buterere commune, Bujumbura), a location between the victim’s home and the Rukoko forest. He had been decapitated.[166]

FNL chief Ntakirutimana subsequently detained Bakary and another combatant in the Rukoko, allegedly for interrogations about the killing. Asked why they were not turned over to Burundian police or judicial authorities, Ntakirutimana said “They are ours. We won’t turn them over until we are sure they are guilty.”[167] As of this writing, the FNL had not turned over any suspects in the killing.[168]

Abuses by Alleged FNL Dissidents

Like the mainstream FNL, the so-called FNL dissidents who were victims of FNL attacks in late 2007 and early to 2008 have also failed to renounce the use of force. Shuttled around by the government, approximately 3,000 dissidents were eventually settled in Randa and Buramata camps in Bubanza province, where the majority have been held for a year and a half as the peace process between the government and the mainstream Palipehutu-FNL moves slowly forward.

The dissidents have taken advantage of their access to arms and their anonymity in the area to commit serious crimes, including murder, rape, and robbery.[169] Dissident leaders have done little to rein in criminality or turn in suspected offenders to the police.

Dissidents have also used force to accomplish political ends. In February 2008 dissidents held hostage the African Union peacekeepers guarding Randa camp in order to force the African Union ambassador to meet with them.[170] They also refused for several months to turn over a group of over 200 child soldiers to UNICEF for demobilization. According to one UN official, the objective of both actions was to force the UN or AU to arrange for their inclusion in peace talks along with or instead of the main Palipehutu-FNL group.[171] In late April, following the short-lived resumption of combat, UNICEF won the release of the children who were transferred to a demobilization center in Gitega.[172]

On April 22, 2009, the government accepted 250 dissidents for integration into the national police and army alongside the mainstream FNL members to be integrated. Others remained in the camps, and the government had not yet announced a policy for demobilization of the remaining dissidents as of this writing.[173]