From: ai-news@amnesty.org
Subject: Burundi:  Human rights abuses must be investigated 
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Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 18:04:21 +0100
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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

4 October 2000
AFR 16/015/2000
189/00


Amnesty International is calling for an immediate, independent
and impartial investigation into the killing of at least 28
civilians by the Burundian armed forces in Bujumbura, at the end
of September 2000.The organization is calling on the Government
of Burundi to ensure that no member of the security forces or
administration hinders the investigations.

      Despite an official denial by the armed forces, a wide
range of unofficial sources in Bujumbura insist that the armed
forces were responsible for the extrajudicial execution of these
unarmed civilians.  More information is still emerging on both
the circumstances of the killings and the identities and numbers
of the people killed or wounded.

     "Respect for human rights must be regarded by all as a
requisite for the implementation of a peace agreement and a
cease-fire.  All parties to the conflict must refrain from human
rights abuses now and be held accountable for their actions," the
organization said.

     Reports from Bujumbura stated that the killings followed
an attack on the capital which was attributed to a Hutu-armed
opposition group, the Forces nationales de libération (FNL),
National Liberation Forces. According to these reports, the FNL
clashed with the Tutsi-dominated national army on the night of 28
September 2000 and attacked a military post in the Kamenge area
in northern Bujumbura.  The FNL then withdrew and the following
morning soldiers of the Bataillon Para carried out reprisal
killings in the Kamenge, Gasenyi, Gituro areas of Bujumbura,
mainly inhabited by Hutu.  The soldiers reportedly entered the
area with the pretext of looking for members or supporters of the
armed opposition. Most of those killed, including women and
children, are reported to have been bayoneted to death, some in
their homes, while others were killed as they fled.

     The area was closed off by soldiers after the killings
and Amnesty International is concerned that the number of dead
could be much higher and that incriminating evidence may have
been destroyed.

BACKGROUND

A peace agreement was signed on 28 August 2000 between the
government, major political parties and some armed opposition
groups.  Two major armed opposition groups, including the FNL,
have yet to sign.  Violence escaled in Burundi immediately prior
to the signing of the agreement and scores of human rights abuses
have been committed by all parties since.


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