Persecution Continues in Burundi

EARLY in 1989, the rulers of the central African nation of Burundi unleashed a wave of persecution on Jehovah’s Witnesses. As was reported in the August 15, 1989, issue of The Watchtower, the authorities tried to force the Witnesses to abandon their faith, using harassment, arrests, beatings, and other harsh measures. What has been the situation since then?

Another report out of Burundi says that during the visit of the district overseer to Kinyinya and Gitega, the authorities tried to arrest the members of the congregation at a meeting. The district and circuit overseers managed to escape, but those who were arrested included two high school students and a girl in primary school. All were beaten. The next day the Witnesses who were arrested appeared before the governor and explained why they could not be members of the political party. They were again beaten. Other reports tell of like happenings.

A responsible Christian elder in Burundi writes: “No Witness of Jehovah has been arrested for theft, murder, or subversion. If the authorities have real grounds to punish the Witnesses, let them do so in open court instead of torturing peaceable citizens, seizing their belongings, and chasing them like wild animals. Many brothers in the interior have been obliged to flee their houses and live like fugitives. One sister whose husband is in prison has been to see many of the authorities in an effort to get her husband released. She has been turned away by all with the answer: ‘We can never release your husband while you receive money from abroad in order to destabilize our country.’ What slander!”

There is, however, good news out of Burundi. The Witnesses there are not cowed or intimidated. Cautiously but surely the preaching of the good news expands, and the brothers and sisters realize that with full trust in Jehovah, they can endure. Many letters expressing outrage have already been written to Burundi, and doubtless many more will follow when the world realizes that Burundi is continuing its merciless campaign of persecution against Jehovah’s Witnesses.

[Box on page 15]

The address of the president of Burundi is:

His Excellency Major Pierre Buyoya

President of the Republic of Burundi

Bujumbura

REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI