BUJUMBURA
Authorities in
Burundi arrested a leading dissident and shut down the main independent
radio station Monday as they battled a second day of demonstrations
against a bid by the president to cling to power for a third term.
The
army was also deployed around the capital Bujumbura, after the Red
Cross said two people were shot dead in clashes with police in the
capital Bujumbura on Sunday. A third person died from their wounds and
two more were killed in alleged overnight attacks by ruling party
militia.
The unrest erupted on Sunday after the ruling
CNDD-FDD party, which has been accused of intimidating opponents,
designated President Pierre Nkurunziza its candidate in the June 26
presidential election.
A senior police official said at least 320 people had been arrested in the unrest.
The
president, a former rebel leader and born-again Christian, has been in
power since 2005. Opposition figures and rights groups say his attempt
to stay put goes against the constitution as well as the peace deal that
ended a civil war in 2006.
Hundreds of thousands of
people were killed in the 13-year conflict, and there are fears the
upsurge in political tensions could plunge the country back into
violence.
On Monday demonstrators were back on the
streets, with police using tear gas in Cibitoke, in the north of
Bujumbura, to prevent around 1,000 demonstrators reaching the centre.
Sporadic clashes continued later Monday in Musaga district, AFP
reporters said.
Leading human rights activist
Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa was also arrested. A witness, who asked not to be
named, said Mbonimpa was arrested "brutally" during a police raid on
the headquarters of a media association.
Mbonimpa's
lawyer, Armel Niyongere, said he had not been informed of the charges
against his client but believed "the arrest is linked to his call for
demonstrations today".
An arrest warrant has also been issued for Vital Nshimirimana, head of a prominent NGO forum.
INTIMIDATION
"This
is only the beginning. The movement will not stop until Nkurunziza
announces he is no longer candidate," Nshimirimana, who has gone into
hiding, told AFP in a telephone interview.
"The
Burundian people and international community are witness to the fact
that our protests are peaceful," he said, condemning the violent
crackdown.
The government has banned all protests, and on Monday also shut down Burundi's main independent radio station.
"The
radio is off the air after a decision by the authorities," said Gilbert
Niyonkuru, head of programming at the influential African Public Radio
(RPA), which has for months been reporting on government intimidation of
opponents.
Broadcasts by the station's studios outside
of the capital Burundi have also been halted, with station officials
saying they had been accused of "complicity and participation in an
insurrectional movement."
Relatives of Sunday's slain demonstrators told AFP that they were shot at close range by police.
MILITIA
But speaking on state television, Bujumbura's mayor Saidi Juma claimed the pair were killed by other demonstrators.
Two further deaths during overnight violence were confirmed by the army.
At
least 15,000 Burundians have fled the country to neighbouring Rwanda in
recent weeks, according to the UN's refugee agency, which has warned
that those numbers could rise.
Many are fleeing threats
by the pro-government militia Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the
ruling CNDD-FDD party. Rights groups allege that the militia has been
armed and trained over the past year in order to help Nkurunziza remain
in office.
The European Union said violence, arrests of
human rights activists, restrictions on the media and an outflow of
people into neighbouring countries had no place in an electoral process.
"The
upcoming elections must be credible, inclusive and non-violent," it
said, adding that its support and observer mission presence were related
to these criteria.
The US embassy in Bujumbura said it
was also watching the situation closely and warned it would "hold
accountable those responsible for violence against the civilian
population".
After Sunday's protest deaths, the African
Union appealed to Burundi's government to "exercise the highest
restraint and protect the population".
The influential Catholic Church has also spoken out against the president's plans to stay put.
UN
rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein warned recently the country was at a
"crossroads" between a fair vote and a route back to its "horrendously
violent past".
No comments:
Post a Comment