Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
U.S.-ousted Burundian in jail back home
KAMPALA, Uganda — A Burundian man recently deported from the United States after failing to receive political asylum has been detained without charges back home, activists said Saturday.
Clement Nkurunziza has had no access to a lawyer since his March 22 arrest, said the group iBurundi, which monitors alleged government abuses.
Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye confirmed Nkurunziza is in custody but gave no details.
Nkurunziza was arrested after arriving on a plane from the U.S., iBurundi said.
More than 1,000 people had signed an online petition urging the U.S. not to send Nkurunziza back to Burundi, saying “his life would be in jeopardy.”
But another group of Burundians signed a separate petition urging his U.S. deportation, alleging that he had a role in the killings of students in the 1990s during the country’s 13-year civil war.
“When supporters of the Burundian government saw the petition urging the U.S. government to not deport him, they jumped on it and started saying he should be sent to Burundi to be jailed,” iBurundi said. It called for an independent investigation of those allegations.
Nkurunziza had fled Burundi after urging the president to retire after two terms in 2015. Deadly protests broke out when President Pierre Nkurunziza successfully sought a third, disputed, term, leaving an estimated 1,200 people dead. The two men are not related.