At least 36 Burundian refugees shot dead in Congo

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Burundians who had fled to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo had escaped the kind of political violence that human rights investigators have described as crimes against humanity: torture and rape at the hands of the military and the police back home.

But in Congo last week, at least 36 of the Burundians were shot to death in a clash with Congolese security forces after an altercation over the detention of fellow refugees, the United Nations and a local activist said. At least one Congolese soldier was also killed, and 117 otherswere injured.

The violent encounter stunned officials and set up a diplomatic row, as the Burundi foreign minister demanded an explanation from Congo, a U.N. official called foran inquiry, and Congolese officials sought to shift blame, questioning whether the Burundians had even been refugees and intimating that they might have been armed.

The U.N. mission chief, Maman Sidikou, said he was “deeply shocked by the high number of civilian casualties who have sought refuge in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Those killed during the protest likely included asylum seekers, the U.N. agency said.

The violent encounter unfolded Friday afternoon in Kamanyola in eastern Congo, when a group of Burundian refugees went to an office of the Congolese intelligence service to demand information about other refugees who had been detained — and their forced return to their crisis-hit country — said Jean-Chrysostome Kijana, a member of a civil society group based in Congo. It was not immediately clear why the refugees had been detained.

An altercation ensued, Mr. Kijana said, and some of the Burundians began hurling stones at the officials and members of the security forces.

“The incident provoked a reaction from the soldiers, who started shooting everywhere,” he said, adding that members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo intervened to halt the clash.

Among those killed were 15 women, the commander of the Pakistani battalion of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, Waquara Yunusi, told The AssociatedPress.

But Lambert Mende, a spokesman for the Congolese government, said Congolese soldiers had been involved in “anexchange of fire.”

“Our soldiers have been attacked by armed persons not otherwise identified,” he said. “They are not refugees.”