The Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Thérèse Kayikwamba, has retracted a recent claim made at the United Nations alleging that a genocide was committed against Hutus in Burundi in 1994.
On April 16, Minister Kayikwamba addressed the UN Security Council, stating that in addition to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the same year saw a silent genocide targeting Burundian Hutus.
She declared: “We recall the other tragedies that struck the Great Lakes region, which remained in darkness for a long time. A genocide was committed against the Hutus of Burundi in 1994, quietly claiming thousands of civilian lives.”
Her comments sparked a wave of backlash, with many urging her to correct the record. Among them was Ambassador Kateretse Fréderick Ngoga, AU Senior Advisor for International Cooperation, Peace and Security, who insisted that no such genocide occurred in Burundi over the past 31 years.
In a statement issued on Sunday, April 20, the DRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs admitted the Minister was mistaken.
The Ministry clarified that the violence she referred to took place in 1972, not 1994.
“The tragic events of 1972 are part of the painful history of the Great Lakes region and deserve international recognition and remembrance,” the statement read.
While the DRC maintains that a genocide did occur in Burundi, major international bodies like the United Nations have not officially recognized the 1972 killings as genocide.
