BUJUMBURA,
Burundi
Burundi
wants 19 combatants who were arrested in Rwanda deported, a demand that could
test the fragile relations between the two neighbours.Nyungwe Forest
Rwanda says the Burundian combatants, who
identified themselves as members of the Red Tabara – an armed rebel group –
were apprehended in Nyungwe Forest on September 29.
According to the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF),
the incident was reported to the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM),
a regional conflict monitoring team under the International Conference on the
Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), to investigate the occurrence.
On Sunday, Burundi released a statement
demanding the extradition of the “group of armed bandits”, claiming the
militants use Rwanda as a hiding base to commit crimes in Burundi.
"A group of armed bandits from Rwimbogo
sector in Rwanda attacked two households and killed a 30-year-old man in
Kayanza Province in Burundi.
"In pursuit by law enforcement, the group
retreated to the hill from where they had come from in Rwanda, taking with them
seven goats stolen from the attacked households," Burundi said in the
statement without revealing when the attack took place.
Burundi now wants Rwanda to “return to Burundi
those [suspected] criminals it has apprehended directly, without passing
through other mechanisms.”
Bujumbura said it is seeking reciprocity as it
has “always done in cases when Rwandan criminals are arrested in Burundi, so
that they may be held accountable to justice."
Burundi added: "The government once again
condemns this heinous act and welcomes the results of the exchange of
information with the Rwandan local security forces, at the request of the
Burundian security forces, which have made it possible to locate and track the
movements of these criminals in their places of withdrawal."
On Monday, officials from the regional military
framework EJVM visited Nyaruguru District in Rwanda, where the group is being
detained, and were briefed on the arrest by the RDF area commander, Major Alex
Nkuranga.
Rwanda and Burundi have over the years traded
accusations related to supporting rebels opposed to their governments.
But in a move aimed at quelling tensions,
military officials from both countries met publicly in August, for the first
time in five years, to find common ground on the longstanding tensions that
have affected security, trade, and movement.
At the meeting, convened by ICGLR, the two
countries negotiated a path towards enforcing security at their common border,
although no pact was signed.
Following the meeting, Burundian refugees have been voluntarily returning home with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR saying more are registering to be repatriated after witnessing a return to peace at home.
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