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Burundi: UN condemns assassination attempt on leading human rights defender

by IBNS 05 Aug 2015, 06:23 am

New York, Aug 5 (IBNS): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations human rights office have strongly condemned the assassination attempt on Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a leading Burundian human rights defender who was shot and wounded by unknown assailants in the capital on Monday.

In a statement issued yesterday evening by his spokesperson, Ban wished Mbonimpa a full and speedy recovery and called for a prompt and transparent investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“This incident, which comes only a day after the killing of General Adolphe Nshimirimana, is part of a growing pattern of politically-motivated violence in Burundi that must be broken before it escalates beyond control.

“The Secretary-General stresses that accountability and the resumption of a genuine and inclusive political dialogue are the best response to such attempts to destabilize Burundi.”

According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Mbonimpa was badly injured after being shot four times, including in the neck, by two people on a motorbike yesterday evening in Bujumbura while he was on his way home.

OHCHR also voiced deep concern at the brutal arrest and ill treatment, on 2 August, of the RFI and AFP local correspondent, Esdras Ndikumana, by agents belonging to the Service national de renseignement (SNR), the national intelligence agency.

“Mr. Ndikumana was taking pictures on the crime site where General Adolphe Nshimirimana was killed on 2 August, when he was arrested and brutalized by SNR agents,” OHCHR spokesperson Cécile Pouilly told a news briefing in Geneva.

“They took him to their HQ in Bujumbura and reportedly subjected him to torture, claiming that he was a 'journalist enemy'.