Toronto, April 2026. The Burundian community gathered to mark the 54th anniversary of the 1972 genocide against the Hutu in Burundi.
A genocide planned by the state, executed in schools, churches and mass graves, and buried under 50 years of enforced silence.
Scholars, priests, survivors and artists took the floor. Each testimony added a layer to the same truth: at least 150,000 to 300,000 people were killed. Their property stolen. Their families shattered. And no one was ever held accountable.
The 2021 Truth and Reconciliation Commission officially confirmed it was a genocide. The world still barely knows it happened.
Thomas Gahungu was three months old when his father never came home. Dr. Jeanine Ntihirageza stood over bags of bones that may have contained her father’s remains. Fr. Ernest Biriruka saw blood traces on the road near his seminary.
These are not old stories. They are open wounds.
Burundi 1972 deserves the same global recognition as any other genocide. Memory is not enough. Justice must follow.
More about this commemoration and the Burundian community of Canada on this website:
https://cbcatoronto.org/
Le message d’Evariste Ngendankengera, chargé d’Affaires à l’ambassade du Burundi à Ottawa.
Le chargé d’affaires revient sur le génocide de 1972 au Burundi, sa reconnaissance officielle par la CVR, et l’importance de la mémoire, de la vérité et de la réconciliation pour construire une paix durable.
