Bujumbura, BURUNDI
Burundi’s political
parties started campaigning for next month’s presidential elections on Monday
despite opposition accusations of intimidation and the global coronavirus
crisis.
With only one death and 15 COVID-19 cases found in minimal testing,
authorities are pressing on with the May 20 vote for a successor to President
Pierre Nkurunziza, an ex-rebel leader in power since the 2005 end of a civil
war killing 300,000 people.
Nkurunziza ran for a third term in 2015 in a move the opposition said
violated the terms of the peace deal. That triggered violent protests and a
failed coup in the East African nation of just over 11 million people.
Since then, nearly half a million people have fled, the economy has
nosedived and low-level political violence has simmered.
Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD party is fielding Evariste Ndayishimiye, a
retired army general who heads the department of military affairs in the
president’s office.
His foremost opponent is opposition party CNL’s candidate Agathon Rwasa,
a deputy chairman of the National Assembly and another former rebel leader.
Unlike most other nations, Burundi has not put restrictions on
gatherings or internal travel due to the coronavirus crisis, so campaigning
should be relatively unimpeded.
Rights groups and opposition parties say CNDD-FDD’s youth wing members,
known as “Imbonerakure” – or “those who see far” in local Kirundi language –
have attacked foes, while the government has threatened and arbitrarily
arrested journalists and activists.
A United Nations report last year accused security forces and the ruling
party of gang rapes, torture and killings. CNL has also accused the police,
intelligence services and officials of carrying out killings and enforced
disappearances of its members.
“Some of the perpetrators of the unspeakable acts are officials of the
ruling party and its allies, public officials who are members of the ruling
party, youth members of the party in power and workers of the Intelligence
Service or the police,” Therence Nahimana, CNL’s spokesman, told reporters last
week.
Nahimana said more than 200 CNL members had been detained and party
members’ property, crops, houses and other assets destroyed.
Calls and messages to government spokesman Prosper Ntahorwamiye for
comment were unanswered. The government has previously denied accusations of
rights violations.
Between January and March, Ligue Iteka, an exiled Burundian rights
group, documented 67 killings, including 14 extrajudicial executions, and six
disappearances.
“These elections will be accompanied by more abuses, as Burundian
officials and members of the Imbonerakure are using violence with near-total
impunity to allow the ruling party to entrench its hold on power,” said Lewis
Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on Monday.
Five other candidates are vying for the presidency, including the first
vice president Gaston Sindimwo and former president Domicien Ndayizeye.
Parliamentary and municipal elections will be held at the same time.
Rights groups around the world are concerned that repressive governments
may exploit the coronavirus crisis to crack down on opponents and consolidate
their power.
Elsewhere in Africa, Burundi, Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Guinea are also
all due to hold elections this year. - Africa
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