Amnesty International Report 1999 - Burundi

BURUNDI

Hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed by the security forces and by armed opposition groups. Scores of extrajudicial executions were carried out shortly after arrest. At least 9,000 people, the majority of whom were accused of participating in politically motivated violence or armed opposition groups, remained in prolonged detention without trial. They included several political opponents of the government. Hundreds of people were tried for their alleged part in politically motivated violence and a number of other political trials took place. Most of the trials did not meet international standards of fairness. Torture continued to be widely used in police and military custody. Conditions of detention were harsh and amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Scores of "disappearances" were also reported, often in military custody. At least 53 people were sentenced to death after unfair trials. No executions took place. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people remained in camps where they were at risk of human rights abuses. Armed opposition groups were also responsible for other human rights abuses, including rape and other forms of torture.

The Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (FDD), Forces for the Defence of Democracy, the armed wing of the Hutu-dominated Conseil National pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD), National Council for the Defence of Democracy, and the armed wings of other Hutu opposition parties, continued their insurgency against the government. An armed opposition group allied to a Tutsi opposition party, the Parti pour le redressement national (PARENA), National Recovery Party, was also reported to be active, although PARENA officially denied any links to the Front national pour la libération du Burundi (FNLB), National Front for the Liberation of Burundi.

Negotiations aimed at finding a solution to the political crisis continued in Tanzania. In June a cease-fire agreement was signed, but it had not been implemented by the end of the year. Internal divisions within political parties and armed opposition groups, including a public split within the CNDD, complicated the process. Negotiations also took place in Burundi between the government and political opposition parties, resulting in a new transitional government, which included members of opposition parties, and a transitional constitution. Major Pierre Buyoya remained Head of State.

In August war broke out in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Although the Burundian government denied involvement in the conflict and offered to help in any mediation, Burundian soldiers were reportedly involved in the capture of Uvira and other towns by the Congolese armed opposition group, the Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie (RCD), Congolese Rally for Democracy, and offered other support to Rwandese and Ugandan soldiers also involved in the conflict on the side of the RCD.

A new law allowing greater government control of the activities of national and international non-governmental organizations was passed. A draft law on repressing and preventing the crime of genocide was tabled for discussion by the Council of Ministers during the year, but by the end of the year had not been promulgated. Provisions of the draft violated several international human rights treaties which Burundi had ratified, including the UN Conventions on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, and on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The conflict continued to render some areas inaccessible, making verification of information on alleged abuses difficult to obtain. In August restrictions were placed on the access of human rights groups and others to detainees and prisoners. These appeared to have been lifted by the end of the year.

Large-scale killings of unarmed civilians continued throughout the year. There were numerous reports of killings from the southern provinces of Makamba and Bururi, and from the province of Rural Bujumbura. Most killings by government soldiers appeared to take place in reprisal for insurgent activity. Hundreds of civilians were killed by government soldiers who accused them of failing to provide information on armed opposition groups, or of having in some way protected or colluded with them.

In early January up to 100 people were reportedly killed in Kizuka zone, Rumonge commune, Bururi province in reprisal for an attack by the FDD in which at least two soldiers were allegedly killed. Soldiers reportedly shot at fleeing unarmed civilians before systematically searching the houses and surrounding area for people who may have been hiding, and extrajudicially executing them. Justine Niyukulu and her seven-month-old child were among those extrajudicially executed.

On 3 November soldiers killed at least 165 people in Rutovo and Busenge collines, Mutambu commune, some 30 kilometres from the capital, Bujumbura. Some sources put the figure much higher. The victims were reportedly shot or bayoneted to death as they followed instructions to regroup around Busenge military post. Government and military sources initially claimed to be unaware of the massacre. However, on 10 November the Ministry of Defence issued a public statement acknowledging that around 30 people had been killed by members of the armed forces during a military operation against the Forces nationales pour la libération (FNL), National Liberation Forces, the armed wing of the Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu (PALIPEHUTU), Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People, and the FDD, and stated that an investigation would be launched. Three soldiers were reported to have been arrested.

Scores of people were extrajudicially executed after being arrested, often on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations of collaboration with armed groups. Spéciose Butore, Didace Bukoru, Jean Ndabagamye, Karidou Mugabonihera and Anaclet Bambara were reportedly extrajudicially executed in July, several days after their arrest, while held in a police lock-up in Mutaho commune, Gitega province. They had been accused of collaborating with armed opposition groups.

At least 9,000 people, mainly Hutu, were held in prolonged detention without trial, the majority on charges of participating in the massacres, primarily of members of the Tutsi ethnic group, which followed the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye in October 1993, or of involvement in other political violence. Approximately 80 per cent of all detainees were held without trial, many had been detained for several years.

Senior members or alleged supporters of PARENA and Solidarité jeunesse pour ladéfense des droits des minorités (SOJEDEM), Youth Solidarity for the Defence of Minorities, arrested in March 1997, continued to be held without trial on charges of endangering state security (see Amnesty International Report 1998). In March a military court ruled that it was not competent to try the case, and released one of the defendants, former President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, from house arrest and allowed him to leave the country. The case was returned on appeal to military jurisdiction but no hearings had taken place by the end of the year. Pacelli Ndikumana, the lawyer of some of the defendants, was arrested in November on charges of endangering state security and remained in detention without trial at the end of the year. A number of other supposed PARENA supporters were arrested during the year on charges of endangering state security and having links with the FNLB.

Michel Nziguheba, a journalist, was released. He had been sentenced to five years' imprisonment in 1997 after a trial which appeared not to have met international standards for fair trial (see Amnesty International Report 1998).

Hundreds of political trials continued during the year. Those on trial included opponents of the government, people accused of participating in the 1993 massacres, people accused of collaborating with or belonging to Hutu-dominated armed opposition groups, and those accused of the assassination of President Ndadaye.

Trials of people accused of participating in the 1993 massacres continued to fall far short of international standards for fair trial, despite increased representation by lawyers. Statements allegedly made under duress were accepted in court and not all defendants had lawyers.

The trial by the Supreme Court of 79 people accused of assassinating President Ndadaye continued slowly. One defendant, François Ngeze, claimed to have been threatened in an attempt to intimidate him from testifying truthfully in the trial. In March Colonel Lambert Sibomana was killed in a car accident, shortly after making a statement in court incriminating members of the government and senior members of the Union pour le progrès national, Union for National Progress, in the assassination. No verdict had been reached by the end of the year.

In February the trial of 23 people charged in connection with a series of landmine explosions in Bujumbura concluded (see Amnesty International Report 1998). The trial failed to meet international fair trial standards. Allegations that some defendants had been tortured, and had made incriminating statements under duress were not investigated. Seven men were sentenced to death, two in absentia. Two defendants, including the Reverend Jean-Pierre Mandende, who had reportedly been tortured, were acquitted. The cases against the 11 people, including Léonard Nyangoma and other senior members of the CNDD, who were being tried in absentia were referred to the Supreme Court for further investigation. No further investigations were known to have taken place by the end of the year.

In October Jean Minani was acquitted of all charges relating to the killing of Lieutenant Colonel Lucien Sakubu (see Amnesty International Report 1996). The witness for the prosecution retracted her 1995 statement incriminating Jean Minani in the murder, claiming that she had been threatened and forced to make the statement. Jean Minani had admitted to the killing while under torture at the Brigade spéciale de recherche (BSR), Special Investigation Unit, in Bujumbura. His lawyer argued in court that this statement should not be admissible as it was made under duress. Jean Minani had been awaiting trial since being charged in March 1995.

Torture continued to be widely used in police and military custody, despite official denials by the government. Detainees accused of links with armed opposition groups were particularly vulnerable to torture. Three detainees were arrested in August in Bujumbura on suspicion of collaborating with the CNDD. Two required hospital treatment after being ill-treated at the military barracks of the Third Intervention Battalion in Kamenge, Bujumbura. The third, Serge Bizimana, was transferred to the BSR in September where he remained at the end of the year.

Conditions of detention, which often amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, were harsh and, in some cases, life-threatening. The majority of prisons were severely overcrowded. More than 200 people died in detention in Ngozi Prison between January and April as a result of prison conditions. More than 2,400 prisoners were held in Ngozi Prison, which was built to house only 400 inmates. Prisoners under sentence of death in Mpimba Central Prison in Bujumbura were held under particularly harsh conditions.

Scores of "disappearances" were reported, often after arrest by soldiers. Many of these reports were impossible to confirm because the authorities denied relatives access to detainees or refused to disclose places of detention, or because they occurred in areas which were not accessible because of the continuing conflict. In response to continued concern about the "disappearance" of Etienne Mvuykere shortly after his arrest in November 1997, the government stated that he was no longer at the military camp where he had been detained and must, therefore, have been released. No investigation had been initiated into his "disappearance". No further information was available about Paul Sirahenda who "disappeared" in August 1997 (see Amnesty International Report 1998).

At least 53 people were sentenced to death after unfair trials. At least 260 people were under sentence of death by the end of the year. The majority had been sentenced in connection with the massacres of October and November 1993. At least 73 people were awaiting presidential clemency, including Gaëtan Bwampaye who was sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial in 1997. No executions took place.

Approximately 600,000 people were reported to be internally displaced in Burundi and approximately 300,000 Burundian refugees remained in neighbouring countries. In April Burundian security forces assisted in Congolese military operations to forcibly return Burundian refugees from eastern DRC. Hundreds of refugees returned from Rwanda; many appeared to have been coerced into returning.

Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Hutus were held in "regroupment" camps where their freedom of movement was severely restricted (see Amnesty International Report 1998). Camps for the displaced, mostly inhabited by Tutsi civilians, were attacked on several occasions by Hutu-dominated armed opposition groups.

Thousands of Congolese refugees arrived from August onwards. In October, five Congolese refugees closely associated with a former governor of South-Kivu in the DRC, who had himself fled the DRC earlier in the year, were arrested by Burundian security forces in Bujumbura and forcibly repatriated days later. They were handed over to the RCD. They were reportedly released after several days in custody.

Armed opposition groups were responsible for killing scores of unarmed civilians. At least 50 people were reportedly killed by armed opposition groups in October in an attack on a camp for the displaced in Bubanza and in an attack near Bujumbura. Both attacks were attributed to the FNL. Many killings appeared to be of alleged or potential government informants, or in reprisal for alleged collaboration with government authorities. Armed opposition groups were also reportedly responsible for forcible recruitment, including of children, and rape, as well as other criminal acts including looting and extortion.

In March Amnesty International submitted a memorandum to the government outlining its concerns and recommendations in relation to the draft law on repressing and preventing the crime of genocide. Amnesty International delegates visited Burundi to collect information about human rights abuses and to discuss human rights concerns and held talks with government officials in April and May. Amnesty International observers attended a number of hearings in trials of defendants accused of participating in massacres and other political violence. A further memorandum on the right to a full appeal was also presented to the government in November.

Amnesty International published Burundi: Justice on trial in July and Burundi: Insurgency and counter-insurgency perpetuate human rights abuses in November. In its public statements in response to these reports the government failed to address most of the substantive issues raised and rejected some of the organization's findings.