About 40 suspected coup plotters arrested

Meanwhile, approximately 40 soldiers and two civilians have been arrested following the coup attempt in Burundi on 18 April, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The detainees were currently being interrogated and the organisation expressed fears they were at risk of “torture and ill-treatment”. It said between 30 and 40 soldiers are thought to have been involved in the coup attempt “although the exact number detained has not been made public”. “At least two civilians, both with links to the opposition Parti pour le redressement national (PARENA), were also detained on 21 April,” Amnesty said. PARENA has since called for the unconditional release of both men and the soldier believed to have spearheaded the coup, Lieutenant Pasteur Ntakarutimana.

The organisation said the suspects were being held in various places of detention around Bujumbura, including a gendamarie special investigation unit, the Brigade speciale de Recherché (BSR), in Bujumbura, where Raphael Manirakiza and Ildephonse Ndagijimana were being held. Others are held in cells of the Police de securite publique (PSP), the Police speciale de Roulage (PSR), the Police judiciaire des parquets (PJP) and in military camps, including Ngagara. “Torture and ill-treatment is frequent in all these places of detention,” the organisation said.