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Burundi gov't rejects reports of gross human rights violations

Xinhua, September 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Burundian government has rejected a report by three United Nations independent experts on "abundant evidence of gross human rights violations" in Burundi, a senior communication adviser at the Burundian president's office said Wednesday.

"The Burundian government rejects the report written by the so-called independent experts. The report is biased and is not credible. It shows the negligence of the experts during their assignment," said Willy Nyamitwe, senior communication adviser at the office of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza.

According to Nyamitwe, the UN independent experts "only focused their assignment on anonymous testimonies" instead of doing a "real" research.

"They relied on wrong information circulated on the internet and detractors of the government and security forces instead of coming to Burundi to carry out a scientific work," said Nyamitwe.

However, the three UN independent experts had been to Burundi twice in March 1-8 and June 13-17 separately this year. The third visit due this month could not take place for security reasons.

The report issued on Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland, bearing on a period ranging from April 15, 2015 to June 30, 2016, documented 564 executions committed by the government and affiliated groups.

It also targeted assassinations, arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence.

According to the report, executions have been committed on a large scale by security forces, often supported by the ruling party's youth wing known as Imbonerakure, adding that the majority of the victims were opposed, or perceived to be opposed, to the third term of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Burundi plunged in a crisis since April 2015 when Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run his controversial third term in violation of the national constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement.

More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and some 270,000 people fled to neighboring countries mostly Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda since the outbreak of the crisis. Endit