Gatumba

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Activists remember Burundi's Gatumba massacre

The village of Gatumba lies on the western side of Burundi, near to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On August 13, 2004, a refugee camp in Gatumba was the scene of one of the largest civilian massacres carried out in Burundi in recent years. A force of armed combatants, many of them members of the Forces for National Liberation (Forces pour la Liberation Nationale, FNL), massacred at least 152 Congolese civilians and wounded another 106. The FNL is a predominantly Hutu rebel movement known for its hostility to Tutsi and the victims were largely Banyamulenge, a group often categorized with Tutsi. The FNL is believed to have been behind a series of other attacks, including the December 28, 2000 Titanic Express massacre.

Following the FNL's admission of responsibility for the Gatumba massacre, the Burundian government issued arrest warrants for the group's leader Agathon Rwasa, and declared their intention to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court. The United Nations issued a resolution condemning the attack, and the African Union declared the FNL a terrorist organisation. No arrests have yet been made.

In October 2005, the FNL issued a statement condemning the Gatumba massacre, denouncing Agathon Rwasa for leading a "descent into hell", and announcing that he had been replaced. Rwasa was reported to have fled to Tanzania.