GENEVA (AP) – The U.N. human rights chief on Friday denounced what he described as gang-rapes of women in Burundi by security forces, torture and signs of ethnic repression in nine months of simmering violence there.
President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term last year has left Burundi on the brink of civil war. The office of U.N. rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein’s said in Geneva Friday that 432 people have been killed in violence since April 26.
Zeid said his office is analyzing satellite images to shed light on allegations about the reported discovery of nine mass graves. His office also cited growing signs that Tutsis were being targeted in the Hutu-majority country that is next to Rwanda.
“All the alarm signals, including the increasing ethnic dimension of the crisis, are flashing red,” he said.
He also called for an urgent investigation into the events that took place in Bujumbura, the capital, on Dec. 11 and 12, including the reported existence of at least nine mass graves.