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U.S. says Burundi's security situation remains extremely concerning: official

Xinhua, April 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United States has said Burundi's security remains extremely grave, urging inclusive dialogue without pre-conditions to solve Burundi's crisis, a senior U.S. official said here Saturday in a press conference.

"We don't want to see a repeat of the catastrophes that have taken place in this country in the past and other countries in the region. The consequences would be extraordinarily high for the interest of people of Burundi," said Tom Malinowski, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

According to Malinowski, human rights abuses should stop. "We have seen continued detentions of people perceived as being sympathizers of the opposition and we have seen increasing reports of people being disappeared," he said.

Malinowski added that there have been credible allegations of torture in detention houses as well as serious acts of violence by armed groups.

"It is not clear that all people being prosecuted or detained have been engaged in violence. The most recent case is the arrest, a couple of days ago, of a comedian -- Alfred Aubin Mugenzi nicknamed Kigingi -- only for publishing a cartoon about the president," said Malinowski.

He called on the Burundian government to expedite the inclusive dialogue at the external level under the mediation of the East African Community (EAC), emphasizing that important decisions on Burundi's future like the amendment of the constitution should be the result of the dialogue under the EAC mediation.

Burundi is facing a political turmoil that broke out since April 2015 following the announcement by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that he would be seeking a third term.

His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted into a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup on May 13, 2015.

Over 400 persons were reported to have been killed since then while some 240,000 citizens sought exile in neighboring countries. Endit