Six individuals accused of practising witchcraft were killed in Burundi after being attacked by members of a youth group affiliated with the ruling party, according to a local official via AFP
The gruesome incident took place on Monday in Gasarara Hill, approximately 10 kilometres east of the economic capital, Bujumbura. Witnesses and a local authority, all of whom requested anonymity, said the assailants were members of the Imbonerakure — a youth movement widely regarded as a militia by both the United Nations and human rights groups.
According to the official, a group of young Imbonerakure stormed the homes of around ten individuals who had been accused of engaging in witchcraft.
“Six people were killed, including two who were burned alive,” the official reported. “The others were beaten to death with clubs or stoned with heavy rocks. It was an act of shocking and indescribable brutality.”
Three additional individuals were also attacked but survived after police intervened and rescued them, the source added.
Footage of the assault began circulating on social media on Tuesday. While many of the videos remain unverified, two witnesses confirmed to AFP that some of the content was genuine and identified the perpetrators as members of the Imbonerakure.
The group has long faced serious allegations of human rights abuses. Organisations like Human Rights Watch have accused it of torture and extrajudicial killings, particularly during the repressive era of former President Pierre Nkurunziza, who led the country from 2005 until his death in 2020.
Desire Nsengiyumva, the provincial governor of Bujumbura, confirmed on Tuesday that 12 individuals had been arrested in connection with the killings. He condemned what he described as “unacceptable mob justice”, stating that locals had falsely attributed a spate of unexplained deaths to witchcraft.
In Burundi, a predominantly Christian nation, traditional beliefs remain strong. Witchcraft is frequently blamed for mysterious deaths, despite the lack of evidence. Only last year, the country’s Supreme Court sentenced a former prime minister to life in prison for allegedly using witchcraft in a plot to threaten the president’s life, along with other charges such as destabilising the economy and illicit enrichment.
