Crisis in Burundi could escalate to genocide

Burundi’s violent repression of opposition could spiral into genocide, two human rights groups warned Tuesday. The International Federation for Human Rights and the Burundi-based human rights group ITEKA called on the international community to intervene before the conflict escalates.

In a 200-page report, the rights groups documented multiple cases of arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings in the country in the last 18 months. Protests began across Burundi in April 2015 after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his decision to pursue a third term in office. Authorities responded by targeting and killing protesters. After a failed coup in May, security officials and youth militia allied with the ruling party began a more systematic form of repression, using torture centers in some cases. More than 1,000 people have died, and 8,000 others have been detained. The conflict has forced more than 310,000 people to flee to neighboring countries.

In one December incident, security forces raided some areas of Bujumbura, the capital, and killed at least 150 people. The troops left the victims’ bodies in the streets.

Some of the repressive acts have specifically targeted members of the minority Tutsi community, the report said. The country’s senior officials have denounced Tutsis as enemies of the state and have murdered, transferred, and arrested dozens of Tutsi army soldiers. Some victims of attacks said officials told them, “You the Tutsis, we are going to clean you out.”

“All the criteria and conditions for the perpetrating of genocide are in place,” the report said. “Ideology, intent, security institutions … identifying populations to be eliminated, and the using of historical justifications.”

By the end of October, Burundi had rejected a human rights violations report by the United Nations and expelled some UN and African Union experts. The country denied a UN request to deploy 228 international police and stopped the African Union from sending 5,000 peacekeepers to the country. The report cautioned Burundi’s break with the international community “heralds a new intensification of repression and crimes against citizens who are considered hostile to the regime.”

Burundi’s government rejected the report as a move by its opposition to trigger a regime change.

“We are not surprised by what they say,” said Jean Claude Karewa Ndenzako, the president’s spokesman. “There is nothing new.”

The human rights groups called on the UN, the European Union, and the African Union to send a civilian force to the country and sanction perpetrators, while working to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

“President Nkurunziza’s regime has thrown itself into a headlong rush to retain power,” said Dimitris Christopoulos, president of the International Federation for Human Rights. “We must stop this downward spiral and mobilize to halt the serious crimes under way in Burundi.”