Amnesty International Report 1998 - Burundi

(This report covers the period January-December 1997)

Thousands of unarmed civilians were killed by the security forces and armed opposition groups; hundreds were killed during the "regroupment" process. Government opponents and critics, including possible prisoners of conscience, were detained and sometimes tortured. Thousands of political prisoners were held without trial; others received unfair trials. Torture and ill-treatment were routine and lead to several deaths in custody. Several "disappearances" were reported. Six men were executed and more than 200 prisoners were under sentence of death. Scores of people were taken hostage by armed opposition groups.

Armed conflict continued between the Tutsi-dominated security forces and allied armed groups on one side and armed Hutu-dominated opposition groups on the other. Fighting was also reported between the main armed opposition group, the Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (fdd), Forces for the Defence of Democracy, the armed wing of the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie (cndd), National Council for the Defence of Democracy, and the armed wing of the Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu (palipehutu), Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People. Attacks by armed opposition groups on Tutsi civilians or military positions provoked widespread reprisal attacks by the security forces against the majority Hutu population. Thousands of people were displaced by the violence and hundreds of thousands of already displaced people were unable to return to their homes.

Major Pierre Buyoya, who seized power in a military coup in July 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997), remained in power. Sanctions imposed by regional governments after the July 1996 coup were eased in April at a regional summit. The summit called for an international arms embargo on all protagonists and an end to "regroupment" camps.

Negotiations to end the conflict were repeatedly postponed. Secret negotiations between the government and the cndd in Rome, Italy, resulted in agreement on areas for negotiation, although the reaction of some other political parties was hostile. Further progress did not appear to have been made by the end of the year

A meeting with government and military officials was held under the auspices of the UN Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization in Paris, France, in September 1997; the Front pour la démocratie au Burundi (frodebu), Front for Democracy in Burundi, delegation was prevented from leaving Burundi to attend the meeting.

The National Assembly met, but was hampered by the continuing suspension of the Constitution, its lack of power to challenge government policies and actions, and by the absence of many members of parliament. Since 1993 many Hutu parliamentarians have been killed or forced to flee the country

In March a new press law was passed restricting press freedom.

Relations with Tanzania deteriorated during the year. There were several incursions by the Burundi security forces into Tanzania, in which at least three Tanzanian civilians were killed.

In April the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution strongly condemning human rights abuses in Burundi and renewing the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Burundi, but the government refused him access to the country and demanded that he be replaced. He was subsequently allowed to visit in December. In May the UN Security Council expressed concern about continuing instability in Burundi and called for a cessation of hostilities, unconditional negotiations and an end to the practice of "regroupment". A joint UN-Organization of African Unity (oau) special representative for the Great Lakes was appointed in January. He visited Burundi in August.

Thousands of unarmed civilians, most of them Hutu, were killed by the security forces – sometimes acting in collusion with armed civilian Tutsi groups – and by armed Hutu opposition groups. Responsibility for specific incidents was often difficult to establish.

Many civilians were massacred during counter-insurgency operations by the army. For example, at least 19 people, mostly women and children, were killed by soldiers between 7 and 9 July in Isale district, Rural Bujumbura province. Soldiers reportedly visited the district several times over the two-day period, shooting and bayoneting those who could not escape and burning down houses, in reprisal for a land-mine explosion on 6 July which injured two soldiers.

In October over 200 people were reportedly killed in a series of massacres by the security forces, after the destruction of 16 schools in Rural Bujumbura province, attributed to the fdd. As many as 70 people were killed at Gitenga colline, Cabbies district, on 21 October. The following day, at Gihondo, Muhata district, at least 48 people were reportedly shot and killed and many others injured during a meeting to which they had been called by military officials

In January, 126 refugees were handed over to the Burundi security forces by Tanzanian soldiers;122 were shot dead shortly afterwards by members of the security forces. The Burundi authorities claimed that soldiers were overwhelmed by the numbers of refugees and panicked. Other sources indicated that the Burundi security forces systematically executed the refugees in small groups, accounting for the lack of wounded. In April, 10 soldiers were sentencedtobetweenfivemonthsand10years for the killings by a military tribunal.

Detainees were extrajudicially executed by the security forces, including 35 people who were extrajudicially executed in the capital, Bujumbura, reportedly on the orders of a lieutenant at the Brigade spéciale de recherches (bsr), Special Investigation Unit. Their bodies were found close to Kanyosha market, near Bujumbura, in March. One of the victims was identified as Eliezer, a young man who had been arrested two days earlier and taken for questioning by the bsr.

Hundreds of unarmed Hutu were reportedly killed in July and August by members of palipehutu in Cibitoke and Bubanza provinces. The majority were reported to have been killed in Murwi commune, Bubanza province, because they were believed to support the rival cndd. Scores of people, mainly Tutsi, were killed in attacks on camps for the displaced by armed groups. The fdd killed unarmed civilians, including at least 13 people in Nyanza Lac district, Makamba province, in July.

In several provinces where armed conflict was prevalent, large numbers of Hutu were forcibly relocated into "regroupment" camps – a military strategy which appeared to be designed to cut off support for armed groups. Hundreds of Hutu civilians were extrajudicially executed by the security forces during the "regroupment" process. For example, 57 people, including 21 children, were killed on 5 January in Rutegama district, Muramyva province. Hunger and disease were rife in the camps. Unlike the predominantly Tutsi displaced people's camps, the inhabitants were forcibly confined to the camps. Anyone not in camps in these areas was declared by officials to be a legitimate military target

Extrajudicial executions, "disappearances" and ill-treatment by soldiers within the camps were reported. Hundreds of people were also killed and wounded in attacks on the camps attributed to palipehutu. In May, 63 people were killed during an attack on two "regroupment" camps in Cibitoke province attributed to palipehutu and members of the former Rwandese army. Towards the end of the year some camps were dismantled, although inmates were not allowed to return to their homes but were resettled along roads. Over 200,000 Hutu remained confined to camps at the end of the year.

Critics and opponents of the government were detained. Some of those held appeared to be prisoners of conscience, such as Solange Ndikumana, who was arrested in March and held for two weeks, apparently because she was found in possession of a letter criticizing Major Buyoya. frodebu Secretary General Augustin Nzojibwami was placed under house arrest in February, and subsequently transferred to Mpimba Central Prison and charged with distributing documents likely to incite civil war. His arrest appeared to be linked to his criticism of the government's "regroupment" policy. He was released a week later, although charges were not dropped. In September his car was fired on, reportedly by members of the security forces.

Several religious leaders, including the Reverend Emmanuel Ndayiziga, President of the Union of Baptist Churches in Burundi, and the Reverend Eliezer Ntunzwenimana, also of the Union of Baptist Churches, were arrested in March and April, apparently on suspicion of providing aid to Hutu armed groups. They appeared to have been targeted because of their welfare work among the local population. The Reverend Ndayiziga was released without charge after four days, but the Reverend Ntunzwenimana was held for 10 weeks before being released without charge and was reportedly unable to walk unaided as a result of ill-treatment

Hundreds of people, mostly young Hutu men, were arrested on suspicion of having links with armed groups. Most were held without charge or trial and many were held initially in military camps where they were ill-treated. They joined more than 6,000 people, mostly Hutu, held in various prisons and detention centres, accused of involvement in massacres following the assassination of former President Melchior Ndadaye in October 1993 or of links with armed groups.

In January the authorities arrested former President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza of the Parti pour le redressement national (parena), National Recovery Party, and several leading members of Solidarité jeunesse pour la défense des minorités (sojedem), Youth Solidarity for the Defence of Minorities. The arrests appeared to relate to their criticism of the government. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza remained under house arrest throughout the year, accused of illegal possession of firearms and subversive documents, before being charged, in December, with involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate President Buyoya.

In March several leading members of parena and sojedem were arrested and reportedly tortured. One, retired Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Ntako, died in detention in mid-May, after he was denied essential medical care. The detainees were charged with planning to assassinate President Buyoya and tried before a military tribunal, the independence and impartiality of which were in doubt. The trials were continuing at the end of the year.

Trials continued of people accused of participation in the massacres and killing Tutsi civilians in 1993. Although the judiciary received UN assistance, the trials fell short of international standards for fairness

Trials before the Supreme Court of around 80 people, both civilians and military, accused of participation in the October 1993 coup and the assassination of President Ndadaye started in May. Many prominent defendants, including François Ngeze, who appeared before the Supreme Court in October and November, remained at liberty. The Court had not reached a verdict by the end of the year.

In September a trial opened of 12 people in court and 11 in absentia, including the president of the cndd, Léonard Nyangoma, charged in connection with land-mine explosions in Bujumbura. At least four had reportedly been tortured, including the Reverend Jean-Pierre Mandende who was beaten on his back and face during interrogation. The trial had not finished by the end of the year

Michel Nziguheba, a journalist, was charged with "false report" and "prejudicial imputation" and sentenced to a total of five years' imprisonment after trials which may not have met international standards for fair trial (see Amnesty International Report 1997).

Torture and ill-treatment of detainees were routine in detention centres and prisons. Most detainees were tortured and ill-treated at the time of their arrest or during interrogation. In February the Executive Secretary of frodebu, Domitien Ndayizeye, was detained for five days and severely beaten. Three men held in an unofficial detention centre at Socarti military camp in Bujumbura reportedly died as a result of torture in May. One was the younger brother of "Savimbi", a prominent member of the fdd

Seven children and one adult reportedly died as a result of suffocation and dehydration in Gatumba police station in October. They were among 10,053 people detained for two days in Gatumba as part of an operation to check identity cards.

Several people reportedly "disappeared", including frodebu National Assembly member Paul Sirahenda and his driver Hamissi Ndimurukundo who "disappeared" in August soon after being arrested by soldiers at Mutobo, Makamba province, near the border with Tanzania. Their burned-out car was later found, and officials claimed the two men had been killed by criminals. There were several reports, particularly from Bubanza and Karuzi provinces of apparent "disappearances" from "regroupment" camps.

Six people, including Firmat Niyonkenguruka (see Amnesty International Report 1997), were executed on 31 July, the first judicial executions since 1981. The six had been convicted of participation in killings in October 1993, after grossly unfair trials in which they did not have legal representation. At least one, Stanislas Mashini, a member of the Rassemblement du Peuple Burundais (prb), Union of Burundi People, said he had been tortured to make him sign a false confession. Defence witnesses were excluded from trials, and despite the gravity of the charges, most trials lasted only a few hours.

At least 100 death sentences were passed during the year after similarly unfair trials, bringing the number of people under sentence of death to more than 200. Most had been convicted in connection with the massacres of 1993. Many, including Gordien Niyonzima, sentenced to death in April in Gitega, claimed to have been tortured to extract confessions

Hundreds of thousands of Burundi refugees remained in Tanzania and Rwanda. Over 3,000 more returned from Rwanda, many apparently as a result of coercion, and several thousand were forcibly returned from Tanzania. The Burundi authorities repatriated hundreds of Rwandese refugees to Rwanda.

Scores of people were reportedly taken hostage by armed opposition groups and forced to accompany the armed groups, carrying provisions and ammunition.

Amnesty International repeatedly called on the authorities to investigate and bring an end to human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, "disappearances", torture and ill-treatment by government forces. Amnesty International also called on the leaders of all armed groups to respect human rights.

In January Amnesty International published a report, Great Lakes