Rossalyn Warren
As a journalist, it is Aline’s job to report on her country and president, but she doesn’t know how to without getting killed.
Pierre Nkurunziza is Burundi’s fearsome, undemocratic president who stands accused of inciting ethnic tensions while dismissing any negative stories on him as lies.
Intimidation of the press is a professional operation, according to Aline, who says a member of the president’s communications team regularly sends her WhatsApp messages telling her to stop writing and reporting. “I know him – he used to be my friend,” she adds.
Since Nkurunziza announced that he would run for a third term in April 2015, Burundi has been plunged into chaos, with many warning of a return to civil war. The president, his party and the police have been accused by orchestrating a campaign of violence and intimidation, where targeted assassinations, torture and sexual violence are daily occurrences.
Underpinning this has been a war on independent media. Following a failed coup attempt in May 2015, Nkurunziza declared journalists were “fighting the government” and marked them as an enemy of the people. Journalists were detained and killed, newspaper offices and radio stations were set on fire and radio signals were cut.
The Burundian government and its supporters deny wrongdoing. They say people are leaving the country because of hunger, not because of ethnic targeting or violence. They also say reports of sexual violence and human rights abuses were made up by Human Rights Watch, the UNHCR, and the European Union, and protested their findings in the capital in February 2017, citing the coverage as “fake news”.
“They keep lying and saying it’s fake and none of these things are happening,” Aline said from neighbouring Rwanda where she has sought refuge. “This is why I have to keep reporting, to tell the truth.”
Aline now runs a cafe in Kigali’s Muslim district with two former colleagues, Chanise and Jeanette. By day they serve ugali, beef and vegetable dishes, and by night they revert to their old lives.
The exiled Burundian journalists in the cafe they run in Kigali. Photograph: Rossalyn Warren for the Guardian
The trio, who are all in their mid-20s, are part of a secret network called Humura Burundi that works under the radar of Nkurunziza’s control.
Their reports cover everything from the harassment of women by the security forces, to ”disappearances” – such as the ongoing case to find missing journalist Jean Bigirimana.
As one of the only lifelines for accurate, truthful reporting, they are widely read by exiled Burundians in refugee camps and those still living in Burundi who oppose Nkurunziza.
Through the network, exiled journalists, and those operating in the country, monitor what is happening in Burundi, and use Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud and WhatsApp to share their reports. The journalists all file under anonymous bylines to protect their identities and their families.
“We do our stories in secret,” said Jeanette. “This is the only way we can report on what’s happening in our country without ending up dead.”
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