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Nearly 300 Burundi soldiers get 30-year jail sentence for refusing to fight in DRC
More than 270 Burundian
soldiers were sentenced by a military court in the country to jail terms
ranging from 22 to 30 years for having refused to fight alongside the Congolese
army coalition against the M23 rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC).
The court in Rutana Commune
conducted the trial between June 18 and 22, and announced the sentence on June
25. The soldiers were accused of disobeying military orders.
According to local media, the
court acquitted two soldiers and ordered those convicted to pay a fine of USD
500 each.
The sentenced soldiers were
apprehended and detained at separate prisons since late 2023, after they
refused to fight M23. In May, they were transferred to Rutana prison in
southeastern Burundi.
Among reasons why
Burundian troops refused to fight in
eastern DRC is that they joined the army to protect Burundi’s territorial
integrity and sovereignty, not fighting in irrational wars. They found no
reason to join a war between Congolese nationals.
“We were shocked by the orders
from President [Evariste] Ndayishimiye, asking us to take off Burundi flag and
put on DRC’s army uniforms. Our military commanders never explained to us the
Burundians’ interests in this war, if they are any. How would we be part of this
unjust war? It’s actually unclear,” said one Burundian army officer who refused
to fight M23 and fled to exile. The officer said Burundian troops were not
prepared with enough logistics for war.
Without understanding the
cause for joining the war and having no appropriate arms, they decided to
refuse Ndayishimiye’s orders.
Sources from Gitega say that
Burundi’s deployment in eastern DRC was Ndayishimiye’s unilateral decision, and
it caused internal wrangles in the ruling CNDD-FDD party, government officials,
and military commanders.
Kinshasa pays USD 5,000 for
every Burundian soldier fighting the M23 rebels. But sources say all the funds
go into Ndayishimiye’s pocket, and the soldiers end up getting their usual
salaries only.
Burundi has deployed more than
8,000 troops to eastern DRC since August 2023, when Gitega and Kinshasa signed
a secret bilateral defense pact, to solely defeat M23 rebel group that resurged
in late 2021 after a decade of dormancy.
The pact saw President Felix
Tshisekedi paying Ndayishimiye USD 2 million as reward for the military
support. This angered Burundian military officials as they realized the deal
was meant for the Burundian president’s personal interests.
Burundi’s army suffered big losses in eastern DRC with hundreds soldiers dying while dozens others were captured on the battlefield against M23 despite fighting alongside thousands of troops from Southern African Development Community (SADC), European and American mercenaries, Wazalendo militia groups, Congolese national army, and FDLR, a terrorist group formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
