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Treatment and Status of FNL Deserters

Scores of FNL combatants who deserted the rebel movement turned themselves in to Burundian army or police posts, some anticipating arrest in any case, others seeking to protect themselves from future problems with the FDN or reprisals by other FNL combatants who try to hunt down and kill deserters.⁴⁴ Many of these deserters report being tired of the war and the difficult conditions and being no longer committed to the objectives of the FNL.⁴⁵  According to officials, about eighty deserters were held in February at three camps, fifty-three at the Interior Security Police in Bubanza province,⁴⁶ eighteen at the Camp “Defense Contre Avion” in Kamenge, Bujumbura,⁴⁷ and four at the Interior Security Police in Cibitoke province, but the total for all camps and detention facilities in all provinces is certainly far higher.⁴⁸

The legal status of the FNL deserters is unclear.⁴⁹ In one statement in mid-December 2005, Minister of Defense Gen. Germain Niyoyankana emphasized that FNL deserters had voluntarily sought refuge at military posts and camps, which is true for some.⁵⁰ Others are detained against their will, without being charged with an offense. For example, four young men who first sought assistance from the local human rights group APRODH later agreed to surrender to the military with the understanding they would be well treated. Two months later they were still detained at a camp, sick with untreated malaria, poorly fed and confined indoors twenty-four hours a day. ⁵¹ They had not been charged with any crime and they stated that they did not fear reprisals if they returned home.⁵² Police and soldiers sometimes use deserters to provide information about the FNL and to identify FNL supporters in the community, as described above, and so have an interest in retaining them in their posts. In another case, a deserter was abducted by former FDD combatants, apparently working for the military. He was held for two weeks, beaten, and interrogated until friends used pressure and bribes to free him. ⁵³

According to Defense Minister Niyoyankana, deserters were to be transferred from military posts and camps to police custody and were to be housed in two sites, one in Gakungwe, Kabezi commune, Bujumbura-rural and the other at Buramata in Bubanza province.⁵⁴ In meetings with Human Rights Watch, General Niyoyankana said that this procedure was followed for all but FNL combatants captured during combat, who would charged with participation in an armed group and detained in the central prison.⁵⁵ But as of mid-February, the sites had not opened nor were provisions assured for their operation.⁵⁶ On the question of the length of time deserters would be held in the camps, General Niyoyankana said that deserters would be provided political training to persuade them not to rejoin the rebellion and then released, but he noted that those who wanted to stay at the camps for their own protection could do so.⁵⁷  Human Rights Watch is not aware of the extent to which detained FNL deserters have been charged with criminal offenses.