Burundi becoming a ‘violent dictatorship’

NAIROBI: Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza and his rul ing par ty have moved the country toward violent dictatorship, rights groups said Yesterday in a report that slams the international community for inaction.

A “purge” of ethnic Tutsis from the army, a crackdown on opposition and media and a bid to change the constitution to allow unlimited presidential terms are signs of an “increasingly violent dictatorial regime”, it said.

The tiny central African state was plunged into political crisis in April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third term which he went on to win.

At least 500 people have been ki l led in ensuing violence, according to the UN — although rights groups put the figure at over 1,000 — and more than 400,000 have f led the country since the crisis began.

In their report the International Federation for Human Rights ( known by its French acronym, FIDH) and par tner g roups describe how the ruling party has tightened its stranglehold during a two-year conf lict.

It said the ruling CNDD-FDD has become the sole state party, with monuments glorifying it erected, party f lags placed at entrances to public schools and violent propaganda broadcast urging Burundians to be ready to fight and eliminate opponents.

“In a mat ter of two years, almost all the heads and activists of the political opposition have been silenced and hunted down by the Burundian authorities,” it said.

Burundi has repeatedly denied a campaign of repression and has harshly criticised UN warnings of a genocide risk. — AFP