Africa Daily - Fifty years after a deadly ethnic conflict, can Burundi find closure?
Download Fifty years after a deadly ethnic conflict, can Burundi find closure?
"I ask: where are my father's bones? My brother's bones?"
In April 1972, Hutu rebels in the south of Burundi launched an assault on the Tutsi led government.
Their aim was to overthrow the administration of then president Michel Micombero.
In the ensuing chaos, at least a thousand people, including government officials, were brutally murdered.
But the country’s army quickly contained the insurgency and attempted coup.
This was followed by more than three months of revenge killings against the Hutu ethnic population.
By the time the carnage came to an end, a reported 200 000 people had lost their lives.
This year marks exactly 50 years since the massacre in Burundi, and the nation continues to seek answers.
It set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2018, to shed light on ethnic tensions since the country’s independence in the early 1960s.
The TRC says it has, so far, uncovered more than 4 000 mass graves, with tens of thousands of victims identified.
Presenter: Alan Kasujja
Guests: Jeanine Ntihirageza and Pierre-Claver Ndayicariye
Published on Tuesday, 21st June 2022.
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