BUJUMBURA, Burundi
Thousands took to the streets of Burundi Saturday in a show of support for the government after the EU and US resumed aid to the impoverished central African nation, organisers said.
Brussels and Washington both cited political progress under President Evariste Ndayishimiye for their decisions to lift sanctions on Burundi -- even though campaign groups insist human rights are still being widely abused.
Hamza Venant Burikukiye, a civil society figure close to the government, speaking on behalf of the rally organisers, said marchers wanted to thank the EU and US for the removal of the "unjust" sanctions.
"They say in Kirundi (the official language of Burundi) that 'a lie can last a day but it can't last a whole year'," he said.
"That's why the international community finally realised that Burundians were unjustly sanctioned."
Organisers said several thousand people turned out in the capital Bujumbura, with reports of marches also being staged in other parts of the country.
Burundi was plunged into deadly turmoil in 2015 when then president Pierre Nkurunziza launched a bid for a third term in office, despite concerns over the legality of such a move.
The EU and US imposed sanctions over the violence that claimed the lives of 1,200 Burundians and sent 400,000 fleeing the country, with reports of arbitrary arrests, torture, killings and enforced disappearances.
Once the biggest aid donor to Burundi, the EU said Tuesday it decided to resume funding because of the "peaceful political process that started with the general elections of May 2020 and which has opened a new window of hope for the population of Burundi".
The US followed suit on Friday, with what Burundi said was a $400 million five-year aid deal for "sustainable development" in the country, where the World Bank has put the poverty rate at about 87 percent.
Burundi has been in the grip of an economic malaise since the 2015 unrest, with a lack of foreign exchange and shortages of basic goods such as fuel, certain foodstuffs, building materials and medicines.
Rights groups this week roundly criticised the lifting of the international sanctions, saying abuses were still rife.
The Ligue Iteka rights group has continued to document numerous violations including murders, arbitrary arrests and sexual violations carried out with impunity, according to a statement by a coalition of exiled civil society groups.
"What drove us to leave is still happening," Iteka president Anschaire Nikoyagize said in the statement.
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