Burundi: Refugees forced back to danger

Refugees from Burundi returning to their country are facing the same human rights abuses that forced them to flee in the first place. The civil war and ethnic violence in Burundi have not abated since October 1993. Killings of unarmed civilians, including the elderly and children, are reported virtually every week. At least 10,000 casualties have been recorded since Major Pierre Buyoya took power in a military coup on 25 July 1996. Tutsi-led armed groups in Zaire are forcing the refugees to leave Zaire and are handing them over to Burundi government forces at the border. The Zairian government has stated that all refugees from Burundi and Rwanda must leave. But there are no guarantees of safety once theBurundi refugees return. Amnesty International is continuing to receive reports of human rights abuses in Burundi by both the Tutsi-dominated Burundi armed forces and Hutu-led armed groups. As many as 500 people who have returned to Burundi in recent weeks are reported to have been killed by Burundi government forces. Others have "disappeared". The continuing abuses against Burundi's civilian population reflect a lack of political will on the part of the Burundi authorities to end them. Despite promises made by Major Pierre Buyoya in July 1996 to end human rights violations, the authorities are condoning or even ordering flagrantviolations by the security forces. The international community cannot expect refugees to return to a country where human rights abuses are still widespread. The international community should condemn the Tutsi- led armed groups in eastern Zaire for forcing Burundi refugees to return home, and the Zairian authorities for stating that they may not remain. The international community has allowed Burundi to slip off its agenda while the situation has rapidly deteriorated. Vulnerable people are receiving no protection. The international community's silence and lack of action can not be allowed to continue. This report documents the reasons refugees fled from Burundi to eastern Zaire, abuses against refugees who have returned to Burundi, and continuing killings of civilians in Burundi's civil war.