UN to probe deadly Burundi police raid

July 3, 2015 : Al Jazeera

UN human rights officials have said they will investigate the deaths earlier this week of civilians during a police raid in Burundi, as observers described Monday’s parliamentary elections as not “free or credible”.
Burundi police on Wednesday raided a Bujumbura home seeking activists opposing President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for an unconstitutional third term in office.
The raid resulted in the deaths of at least five people, including two children, and one police officer. The police said they were disarming opposition supporters and fired in self defence.
Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa visited the home in the suburb of Mutakura, while the bodies of family members riddled with gunshot wounds were still strewn around the scene.
Bereaved family members told our correspondent that police entered their family compound “and started firing”.
A witness, who did not wish to be identified said: “The police fired from outside the gate, one of them jumped over the gate and opened it for the others to get in. Then they started firing at everyone.”

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“A man and his two children ran inside and they closed the door. Grenades were thrown inside and they exploded. Everyone was killed.”
Andre Ndayambaje, the Burundi police chief, told a press conference on Thursday that police were “disarming civilians who have weapons that have been smuggled into the country”.
“So far we have collected eight Kalashnikov, 300 bullets and 15 grenades meant for an attack,” Ndayambaje said.
Our correspondent said UN human rights officials said they would investigate the incident.
Dozens killed
Burundi has been locked in its worst political crisis since its civil war ended a decade ago, with protests erupting in late April against President Nkurunziza’s bid to seek a third term in office. Dozens of protesters have been killed.
The opposition boycotted Monday’s parliamentary election. A presidential vote is scheduled for July 15 but the UN and others have called for it to be postponed. Opponents of Nkurunziza’s attempt to stand again say a third term violates the country’s constitution.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq told the Reuters news agency that the preliminary conclusion of the UN electoral observer mission in Burundi was that “the overall environment was not conducive for free, credible and inclusive elections”.
“Episodes of violence and explosions preceded and in some cases accompanied election day activities,” Haq said.
“The UN mission … observed media freedom restrictions, violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
“This includes infringements to the right of the political opposition to campaign freely, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and acts of violence committed by armed youth groups aligned with political parties,” he said.

Atiku: It’s time for APC leaders to shift ground ⌂Back To Homepage Subscribe To RSS Feed Atiku: It’s time for APC leaders to shift ground July 02 20:03 2015 Print This Article Share it With Friends 👤by TheCable  4 Comments 7421 Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president of Nigeria, has urged leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to shift from extreme positions to a centrist one in the interest of the party and the nation. Atiku, who said he will be absent at the meeting of the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja on Friday, expressed regrets that the party is “torn apart at a time more energy are needed to attend to the objectives of the change agenda for which it was voted into power”. He advised the leadership of the party to focus on resolving the crisis in order not to allow the opposition party take advantage of the situation. “We can resolve our differences when our leaders individually and collectively shift ground from extreme positions and move to the centre in the interest of our party and our country,” read a statement issued on his behalf by his media office. “Atiku, who is unavoidably outside the country to perform Lesser Hajj (Umrah) in Saudi Arabia, said that he is deeply concerned that, soon after capturing power, the APC is torn apart at a time more energy are needed to attend to the objectives of the change agenda for which it was voted into power. “It is high time the party overcame its current crisis of confidence arising from the national assembly election of principal officers. The current blame games targeted at individuals is an unnecessary diversion of energies at the expense of the urgency of the mission of the party to make life better for Nigerians. “The vilification of individual party leaders and members in the face of challenges facing the country is painful to him. The party should learn the lessons and move ahead.” He advised the party leaders not to allow people of bad faith to fuel division and acrimony among the party, saying all positive energies should be directed towards sustaining the morale of the voters who look forward to the APC to make their lives better. “He reminded party leaders that any division could be exploited at the expense of the party. He extended his goodwill to the party for successful deliberations and assured the party of continued support and loyalty at all times.”

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng

Atiku: It’s time for APC leaders to shift ground ⌂Back To Homepage Subscribe To RSS Feed Atiku: It’s time for APC leaders to shift ground July 02 20:03 2015 Print This Article Share it With Friends 👤by TheCable  4 Comments 7421 Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president of Nigeria, has urged leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to shift from extreme positions to a centrist one in the interest of the party and the nation. Atiku, who said he will be absent at the meeting of the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja on Friday, expressed regrets that the party is “torn apart at a time more energy are needed to attend to the objectives of the change agenda for which it was voted into power”. He advised the leadership of the party to focus on resolving the crisis in order not to allow the opposition party take advantage of the situation. “We can resolve our differences when our leaders individually and collectively shift ground from extreme positions and move to the centre in the interest of our party and our country,” read a statement issued on his behalf by his media office. “Atiku, who is unavoidably outside the country to perform Lesser Hajj (Umrah) in Saudi Arabia, said that he is deeply concerned that, soon after capturing power, the APC is torn apart at a time more energy are needed to attend to the objectives of the change agenda for which it was voted into power. “It is high time the party overcame its current crisis of confidence arising from the national assembly election of principal officers. The current blame games targeted at individuals is an unnecessary diversion of energies at the expense of the urgency of the mission of the party to make life better for Nigerians. “The vilification of individual party leaders and members in the face of challenges facing the country is painful to him. The party should learn the lessons and move ahead.” He advised the party leaders not to allow people of bad faith to fuel division and acrimony among the party, saying all positive energies should be directed towards sustaining the morale of the voters who look forward to the APC to make their lives better. “He reminded party leaders that any division could be exploited at the expense of the party. He extended his goodwill to the party for successful deliberations and assured the party of continued support and loyalty at all times.”

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng