The Burundi government announced on Tuesday that it had suspended all cooperation with the Burundi office of the Geneva-based United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba accused the High Commissioner’s local representative, Ivorian Patrice Vahard, of involvement in drafting the recent report by UN human rights experts, which strongly criticised the Burundi government for human rights abuses in Burundi. The government condemned the report as “having no logic basis and full of lies”.
“By the way we demand the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to assign a team to negotiate with the government the authorisation of operating again in Burundi. The negotiation will determine its mandate, the duration and the number of its staff in Burundi”, Nzobonariba.
He added that the decision had already been announced to the representatives of the office.
Meanwhile three people were killed and two seriously wounded in an armed attack on a pub in Ruteme Zone, commune of Bugarama in the province of Rumonge, southern Burundi on Monday night.
“I first heard a big explosion which was followed by many shootings. When security arrived, three persons among those who were in the pub were already dead and two others were seriously injured,” said a witness.
Six weeks ago, the security forces had announced their arrests of more than 50 persons suspected to be part of armed group in the same commune.
