CAT/C/55/D/553/2013
Bujumbura. At about 5.45 p.m., when the four friends were on the beach, they
suddenly heard shots fired in their direction. They tried to flee but then saw some 30
police officers running towards them, some in plain clothes — who they later found
out were agents of the National Intelligence Service (SNR) — and others in military
uniforms. The officers ordered all military personnel to remain at the scene. The
complainant and the 12 other soldiers who were also there on the beach ob eyed the
order.
2.2 The complainant and the other soldiers were then rounded up in the middle of
the beach before being quickly separated and each placed in the charge of two or three
State officials. X was roughly seized by three officials, of whom one was a military
officer and the other two SNR agents in plain clothes. Each SNR agent pointed a gun
at each of the complainant’s temples, while the military officer stood behind him,
insulting him and accusing him of being a traitor and planning a coup d’état. The
complainant was pushed to the ground and fell to his knees. Once he had been
completely overpowered, he was brutally beaten; he received kicks to the chest, ribs
and back to the accompaniment of violent insults, and also received blows to the head.
2.3 Two SNR agents ripped off his T-shirt, which they then tore apart so they could
use it to tie his hands behind his back. The y ripped the laces from his shoes to
reinforce the bonds around his wrists. Once his hands were bound behind his back and
he was completely at the mercy of the State officials, they started beating him again,
kicking him all over his body. They took his mobile phone, a sum of 33,000 Burundi
francs (about US$ 20) and his identity card. When he protested, t he officials began
hitting him on the head again, sometimes with the butts of their rifles. As a result of
this violent attack, the complainant lost consciousness for several minutes. When he
came round, he felt sharp pain all over his body and noticed swelling in some places.
2.4 Colonel E.N. then ordered the State officials to separate the detained soldiers
once again and to shoot anyone who moved. About 20 minutes later, the State officials
bundled the complainant and the other detained soldiers into the back of a van. A few
minutes before they were forced into the van, a journalist from Radio Publique
Africaine arrived at the scene. 1 She was nearly shot by a police officer. She has been
able to testify that she saw people lying in the mud on the lake shore while their
assailants stamped on their backs and, speaking in the national language, called them
“thugs who want to shed blood yet again when so much blood ha s already been shed”.
2.5 Once they had arrived at the Special Investigation Brigade, the detained soldiers
waited in the van for about 10 minutes before it took off again towards the
headquarters of the Anti-Aircraft Unit in Kamenge (Bujumbura). Throughout the
journey, X, who had no shoes or shirt and still had his hands tied behind his back, was
in intense pain all over his body.
2.6 When they arrived at the headquarters of the First Military Region, which
oversees all the military camps in Bujumbura, the former Minister of Defence,
Lieutenant General G.N., who was at the scene, ordered the 13 detained soldiers to be
handcuffed, taken to a meeting room and called out one by one. Despite their critical
condition, none of them were examined by a doctor. The complainant ’s condition was
particularly worrisome, as he was covered in bruises and swellings.
2.7 At about 2 a.m., some police officers helped move him to an adjacent office, as
he could barely walk. In the office were military personnel, including Colonel D.N.,
military prosecutor of the court martial. Another of the soldiers who had been arrested
on the beach was also in the room. He was handcuffed and sitting on a chair.
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GE.15-16736
Her statement is attached to the complaint.
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