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Witness History: The 1972 mass killings in Burundi

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1972 Mass Killings in Burundi

11/02/2022 GMT

The 1972 mass killings in Burundi

BBC World Service - Witness History, The 1972 mass killings in Burundi

In 1972 Burundi’s Tusti led army massacred Hutu civilians following a Hutu led uprising

In 1972, Burundi’s Tusti led government responded to a Hutu-led insurgency by launching a wave of reprisals against Hutu civilians.

In late April 1972, Hutu rebels launched an insurgency in the south of Burundi with the aim of overthrowing the Tutsi led government. They brutally murdered government officials and civilians, targeting mostly Tutsi. Estimates from the time suggest at least a thousand people were killed. The army quickly contained the insurgency but then began reprisals against Hutu civilians. Hutu elites in particular were targeted – those with education or with government jobs. The killing lasted for more than 3 months. Human Rights Watch estimates as many as 200,000 were killed. Rob Walker speaks to Jeanine Ntihirageza who was an 11-year-old schoolgirl at the time and whose father went missing at the start of the reprisals.

(Photo: National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation officials inspect remains of people at a mass grave existing from 1972 in Mwaro, Burundi. Credit: Renovat Ndabashinze/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

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