18 February 2008
Bujumbura — The Democratic Republic of Congo has released five Burundians after about three months of imprisonment.
These Burundians include two soldiers and three civilians who travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo in late November of 2007 on the invitation of a Congolese pastor. This pastor was later arrested on charges that he has collaborated with invaders from Burundi.
These Burundians were deprived of their money, cellular phones and clothes after their arrest. They say that they lived in dire conditions in the Congolese prisons and rarely received food. Their release was a result of the combined efforts of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) and human rights organisations. They returned to Burundi last weekend.
The efforts to ease the movement of people on the border between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo remain one sided. The government of Burundi lifted the requirement of a visa to cross the border from Congo to Burundi more than a year ago, yet the
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