"The recent movement of thousands of well-armed FDD combatants into
northwestern Burundi have heightened fears of an all-out rebel attack on the
capital, Bujumbura. A second and smaller rebel group, the National Liberation
Forces, also occupies the hills around Bujumbura. The rebel forces are
largely Hutu while a large number of Bujumbura residents are Tutsi."
{Note to worry SA's ZUMU with his residual aparthied mentality seems to think
he has the Magic formula to solve africa's problem. ...including but not
limited to arm twisting !!!
Matek
Escalating Violence Demands Action
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Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)
PRESS RELEASE
November 29, 2002
Posted to the web November 29, 2002
New York
Recent army massacres of civilians and bombardment of the capital by the
rebel Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD) are raising the risk of
further widespread killing of civilians in Burundi, Human Rights Watch said
in a briefing paper released today.
International donors meeting in Geneva and regional leaders meeting in Dar es
Salaam this week must apply maximum pressure to get the Burundian government
and rebel forces to protect civilians and to agree to a ceasefire in the
nine-year war, Human Rights Watch said.
The recent movement of thousands of well-armed FDD combatants into
northwestern Burundi have heightened fears of an all-out rebel attack on the
capital, Bujumbura. A second and smaller rebel group, the National Liberation
Forces, also occupies the hills around Bujumbura. The rebel forces are
largely Hutu while a large number of Bujumbura residents are Tutsi.
The briefing paper also documents a series of army massacres of civilians
since July, the worst of which killed at least 174 persons. Scores more were
killed in five other military attacks. Most highly placed army officers are
Tutsi; most of the victims in the killings are Hutu.
On November 22 and 23, the FDD bombarded heavily populated civilian
neighborhoods of the capital, killing five persons and wounding others.
Earlier in the month, they shelled the provincial capital of Gitega.
Army and civilian officials have said civilians will be treated as rebels if
they do not flee rebel forces, while a rebel spokesman has warned civilians
to clear out of the capital.
"Attacks against civilians are on the rise in Burundi, and that's a very
dangerous sign," said Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to the Africa
Division of Human Rights Watch. "Both government army officers and rebel
commanders must hold their troops accountable for these deliberate attacks on
ordinary people who have no place to run."
The briefing also documents cases of children abducted to serve in rebel
forces.
It is available online at
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/burundi/burundi1128.pdf.
