burundi: amnesty says heads of state should condemn killings

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

7 October 2002
AFR 16/017/2002

As a regional Heads of State meeting focusing on the armed
conflict in Burundi begins in Dar es Salaam today, Amnesty
International is calling on the Heads of State to condemn in the
strongest terms the escalation of unlawful killings of civilians
in Burundi and to demand that the Transitional Government of
Burundi and armed political groups take immediate measures to
improve the accountability of their armed forces.

On 9 September 2002, at least 174 unarmed civilians were
extrajudicially executed by members of the Burundian Army in
Itaba commune, Gitega province. The killings, which remained
hidden for over a week, provoked strong international and
national condemnation.

The massacre is not an isolated incident, as some senior
military and political leaders have claimed. The deliberate
killing of unarmed civilians by the Burundian army in reprisal
for the activities of armed political groups, which also
routinely attack the civilian population, is a distressingly
regular feature of the conflict.

Since the beginning of this year, these extrajudicial
executions have escalated alarmingly: hundreds of extrajudicial
executions have been carried out this year alone. Sadly the
majority of such cases remain uncondemned and uninvestigated.
Killings have increased following a recent public statement by
the Army Spokesperson justifying the killings of civilians in
conflict zones. Despite the massacre at Itaba, this statement has
not been publicly retracted.

During a high level mission to Burundi from 21 to 26
September 2002, Amnesty International's Secretary General, Irene
Khan, raised these killings, as well as hundreds of others, with
the highest authorities. She was assured that those responsible
for the killing in Itaba would be identified and brought to
justice before military courts.

The organization welcomes the arrests in early October of
two Burundian army officers from the 4th Battalion (Ngozi) on
suspicion of involvement in the Itaba massacre. The challenge
for the Transitional Government, and the international community,
is to ensure that they are brought to justice in accordance with
international standards for fair trial, as in the past, military
courts have consistently been unwilling to investigate
allegations of human rights violations by members of the armed
forces and to bring to justice those responsible. On the rare
occasions when members of the armed forces have been arrested for
human rights violations, when international or national attention
has drifted, the majority have been released uncharged or have
received light sentences which appear derisory given the scale of
atrocities for which they have been convicted. In October 2000,
two soldiers convicted of a high profile murder case were
sentenced to death and executed in violation of their right to
appeal.

Amnesty International is also concerned that in the
absence of a prompt and fully independent inquiry, the truth of
the Itaba massacre and the identities of others who took part in,
ordered or condoned the killings will not be fully revealed.

Amnesty International is calling on the Regional Heads of
State Meeting to exert its influence on the Transitional
Government of Burundi to:

take immediate action to end the escalating pattern of
extrajudicial executions of unarmed civilians by members of its
armed forces;

institute prompt, independent and impartial investigations into
all unlawful killings of civilians; to make the findings public;
to bring to justice those suspected of involvement at all levels,
in accordance with international standards for fair trial and
without recourse to the death penalty;

protect fully all witnesses against any threat or reprisals; and,
pending completion of investigations, to suspend military
commanders of units responsible for human rights violations;

issue public instructions to military units that unarmed
civilians are not legitimate targets.

Amnesty International also urges the Regional Heads of
State to remind Burundian armed political groups of their
obligations under international humanitarian law and to halt
forthwith the unlawful killings of unarmed civilians and soldiers
who are hors de combat by their forces.

Background
The Secretary General of Amnesty International visited Burundi
from 22 to 26 September 2002 to discuss with the Transitional
Government grave violations of human rights, including massive
killings of civilians, torture and prolonged detention without
trial.

During the mission, Amnesty International's delegation
collected information indicating that at least 174 civilians,
including many women and children, were deliberately killed in
Itaba commune, Gitega province, by the Burundian armed forces on
9 September, as well as information on other unlawful killings by
government and armed opposition forces.

In a report published in June 2002, Amnesty International
catalogued a systematic and escalating pattern of extrajudicial
killings by government troops in reprisal for the activities of
armed political groups, and called for immediate action by
political and military leaders to protect civilian life.
Hundreds more have taken place since. The report also documented
scores of unlawful killings of unarmed civilians, captured
soldiers and government officials by armed political groups in
the same period and called on their leaders to ensure that their
combatants respect international humanitarian law.

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