Iteka denounces rights violations

Burundi's human rights watchdog, Iteka, has expressed concern over increased attacks on civilians by the rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) and human rights violations committed by the rebels and the country's defence forces. The government must act quickly to prosecute any element of the police and other security forces involved in "extrajudiciary executions, torture and inhuman treatment", Jean-Marie Vianney Kavumbagu, the leader of Iteka, said in a report issued on Wednesday in the capital, Bujumbura. Despite the FNL attacks, "nothing can justify violation in terms judiciary procedure committed by police in general and the national intelligence services in particular", he added. In the month of September alone, Kavumbagu said, the FNL had killed 20 civilians and the army killed 11 and arrested at least 50 others. However, the army spokesman, Maj Adolphe Manirakiza, dismissed Iteka's claims on Thursday as "groundless", saying the army had not killed any civilian. Regarding those arrested, Manirakiza said: "Arrested persons who are suspected of collaborating with the FNL are normally sent to police stations for investigations, after which files are sent to judicial institutions." Iteka said fighting between the FNL and the army had led to an increase of serious "unprecedented violations of human rights, including the rights to life and other challenges that government must face". Kavumbagu said instead of joining the negotiation table, the FNL had continued to carry out attacks in its stronghold of Bujumbura Rural Province as well in several other provinces. He said the civilian victims of the FNL had been killed using rifles or other sharp objects, "prior to being mutilated or decapitated". Iteka had also recorded incidents of torture, Kavumbagu said. "Some of the tortured people are not allowed visits by their family members and human rights organisations," he said. "The government has the obligation to protect the population and their rights despite the tension still prevailing in provinces such as Bujumbura Rural." On Thursday, Manirakiza said the people who got killed were "those found on the battlefield or those made human shields" by the rebels. "Iteka should, from now on, think twice before issuing any written or spoken statements for the good of the country," he said.