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Burundi rejects report by Int'l Federation for Human Rights on risk of genocide

Xinhua, November 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Burundian government has rejected a report issued earlier this week by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the risk of genocide in the east African nation, the Burundian president's office said Thursday.

"The report published by the International Federation for Human Rights with the contribution of the Burundi-based Iteka Human Rights League is biased and full of lies," said Willy Nyamitwe, Senior Adviser in charge of Communication at the Office of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza.

According to Nyamitwe, the Burundian government has rejected the content of the report because the aim of the report is to draw the attention of the international community by saying that there is a "risk of genocide" in Burundi.

"This narrative has been used by some people who just try to destabilize this country (Burundi). So the International Federation for Human Rights is violating human rights because you cannot say that you are a defender of human rights when you are propagating rumors and false information," said Nyamitwe.

He however acknowledged that some people lost their lives during the crisis that broke out in April 2015, but underlined that atrocities were carried out by "coup plotters and insurgents" before they went on the run.

Besides, Nyamitwe indicated that the report by the FIDH defends Rwanda about acts of destabilizing Burundi namely recruiting and training youths in order to attack Burundi.

"The report is trying to defend the position of Rwanda. Rwanda has been claiming that all the problems in Burundi are problems of Burundian people, but the report tries to hide Rwanda's aggression against Burundi," said Nyamitwe.

Published on Tuesday in the French capital Paris, the FIDH report was entitled "Repressions with a Tendency to Genocide".

The report said that the crisis that broke out in Burundi since April 2015 following the third term bid of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has left over 1,000 deaths and between 300 and 800 disappearances.

The report also said that about 8,000 people are detained in various custodies and prisons in the east African nation while some 300,000 people fled to neighboring countries, mostly Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo since the outbreak of the crisis. Enditem