Burundian soldiers get lengthy jail terms for refusing to fight rebels: Reports

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – A military court in Burundi sentenced dozens of government soldiers to lengthy jail terms Tuesday for refusing to fight rebel groups in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local media reports.

The soldiers were apprehended and detained at separate prisons earlier this year after reportedly refusing to fight Congolese M23 fighters.

In May, they were transferred to Rutana prison in southeastern Burundi.

They were accused of disobeying military orders.

The court in Rutana conducted the trial between June 18 and 22.

“More than 270 soldiers received jail sentences ranging from 22 to 30 years for having refused to fight alongside the Congolese army against the M23 rebels,” the Sosmedias Burundi news portal reported, citing military sources.

“It acquitted two soldiers and also ordered those convicted to pay a fine of $500 each,” it added.

Burundi sent troops to eastern Congo in August 2022 after the East African Community (EAC) bloc agreed to launch a joint mission against armed groups.

But when Kinshasa refused to renew the regional force's mandate after December 2023, Burundi's soldiers remained in DR Congo under a bilateral agreement.

Between September 2023 and January 2024, several Burundian soldiers, including senior officers, were reported killed in eastern DR Congo's North Kivu province.

The M23, an ethnic Tutsi-led rebel group formed in 2012, is one of the multiple rebel groups fighting in eastern Congo.

DR Congo alleges the rebel group is supported by Rwanda, a claim Kigali denies.

African countries including South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi have deployed troops in DR Congo under a Southern African Development Community (SADC) force to fight armed groups.