Itaba massacre

The Itaba massacre was, according to Amnesty International, the "massacre of between 173 and 267 unarmed civilians, many of them women, children and the elderly, who were deliberately and unlawfully killed in the Commune of Itaba, Gitega Province, Burundi on 9 September 2002".[1] The killings were carried out by members of the armed forces of Burundi.[2]

History of Burundi
Emblem of Burundi
Urewe civilisation Hutu, Tutsi and Twa origins
Kingdom of Burundi German East Africa 1891–1919 Ruanda-Urundi 1922–1962 Ruzagayura famine 1943–1944
Road to independence Parliamentary election 1961 Prince Rwagasore assassination 1961 Independence 1962
Burundi 1962–present Army coup attempt 1965 Ndizeye coup Jul 1966 Micombero coup Nov 1966 Genocidal killings of Hutus 1972 Bagaza coup 1976 Buyoya coup, 1st 1987
Burundian Civil War Army coup attempt 1993 Genocidal killings of Tutsis 1993 Buyoya coup, 2nd 1996 Titanic Express massacre 2000 Army coup attempt 2001 Itaba massacre 2002
Current Second Congo War 1998–2003 Burundian unrest 2015–2018 Army coup attempt 2015 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–present
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The Burundian authorities blamed the deaths on cross fire between government forces and the National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD). Human rights groups have stated that civilians were deliberately targeted.[3]

In 2002, the European Union called for an independent inquiry into the killings after criticising the judicial proceedings of a military court which found two officers guilty of failing to obey orders. They were sentenced to four months in prison, and released, having already served that time since their arrest.[4]