Amnesty expresses concern over Kivumu detainees

The human rights group Amnesty International has expressed concern over the fate of six named people detained during Sunday’s security raid on Kivumu regroupment camp, outside Bujumbura, “apparently when they tried to stop the soldiers from stealing their possessions.” The detainees had been detained incommunicado in the Bujumbura Rural district gendarmerie detention centre and accused of collaborating with armed opposition groups, an Amnesty alert stated. It expressed concern for the fate of the six, in light of what it claimed was the particular risk of torture or ‘disappearance’ of those linked with armed opposition groups.

Access to Kivumu camp had been blocked since Tuesday, after protests and condemnation of the soldiers’ behaviour, and there was also a concern that residents could be intimidated or face other reprisals. The government has promised an investigation to the incident and to take the necessary action against any soldiers found guilty of misconduct. Amnesty also called on the authorities in Bujumbura to put an end to regroupment camps, which it said were “a counter-insurgency tactic” - isolating a public from which armed opposition might gain or coerce support - rather than a source of protection to civilians, as the government claims.