Burundi's ruling party dismisses Human Rights Watch report on abuses of party youth wing

The Burundian ruling party has rejected a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report issued Thursday accusing the party youth wing dubbed Imbonerakure of brutality and ill-treatment against opposition members, the party communication officer said Friday.

"We have been surprised by the publication of the report that contains unverified, biased and false information. The report is simply aimed to dehumanize and stigmatize our Imbonerakure youth league," Nancy Ninette Mutoni, Senior Communication Officer of the Burundian ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) said in reaction to the HRW report.

Mutoni said, "The report contains lies against Imbonerakure young people who are instead active and committed to peace."

According to her, the publication of "false" reports by some ill-intended organizations pretending to be promoters of human rights has been observed for months.

"We invite writers of such reports to come to the ground (in Burundi) and verify the information in order to write credible and truthful reports," Mutoni said.

She indicated that the Imbonerakure young people "co-operate" with security forces in safeguarding peace and security in what is called joint security committees.

"Youths from other political parties should also be part of those committees because security is a concern of every citizen," Mutoni said.

On Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report whereby it said Imbonerakure members "have brutally killed, tortured, and severely beaten scores of people" across the east African country in recent months.

"The killings and other ill-treatment reflect the widespread impunity for Imbonerakure members and the government's unwillingness to prosecute the group," Human Rights Watch said.

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 that ended a decade-long civil war.

More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and about 300,000 people fled to neighboring countries mostly Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda since the outbreak of the crisis.

Local and international human rights organizations have been denouncing abuses on opposition members by the Burundian ruling party youth wing dubbed Imbonerakure. Endit