Burundi to pursue the ‘few’ officials behind killings

Burundi’s president said those in possession of illegal arms have a month to relinquish them and that authorities will hold to account the “few” security officials behind cases of killings and torture. President Pierre Nkurunziza made the comments late on Wednesday after the U.N. human rights chief said this week that there had been an […]

Burundi’s president said those in possession of illegal arms have a month to relinquish them and that authorities will hold to account the “few” security officials behind cases of killings and torture.
President Pierre Nkurunziza made the comments late on Wednesday after the U.N. human rights chief said this week that there had been an “alarming upsurge” in arrests and killings, with some bodies of victims showing signs of torture.
The central African state tumbled into a political crisis after Nkurunziza said in April he would run for a third term.
Opponents said another five-year term, which he began in August, violated a peace deal that ended a 12-year civil war in 2005, a conflict that left Burundi awash with arms.
“The government gives one month to those who illegally possess arms to hand them over,” Nkurunziza said in an address broadcast on state radio and television. “Beyond this period, whoever is caught with arms will be punished.”