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Recent army massacres of civilians and bombardment of the capital by the rebel Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD) are raising the risk of further widespread killing of civilians in Burundi, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

International donors meeting in Geneva and regional leaders meeting in Dar es Salaam this week must apply maximum pressure to get the Burundian government and rebel forces to protect civilians and to agree to a ceasefire in the nine-year war, Human Rights Watch said.
The recent movement of thousands of well-armed FDD combatants into northwestern Burundi have heightened fears of an all-out rebel attack on the capital, Bujumbura. A second and smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Forces, also occupies the hills around Bujumbura. The rebel forces are largely Hutu while a large number of Bujumbura residents are Tutsi.

The briefing paper also documents a series of army massacres of civilians since July, the worst of which killed at least 174 persons. Scores more were killed in five other military attacks. Most highly placed army officers are Tutsi; most of the victims in the killings are Hutu.

On November 22 and 23, the FDD bombarded heavily populated civilian neighborhoods of the capital, killing five persons and wounding others. Earlier in the month, they shelled the provincial capital of Gitega.

Army and civilian officials have said civilians will be treated as rebels if they do not flee rebel forces, while a rebel spokesman has warned civilians to clear out of the capital.

“Attacks against civilians are on the rise in Burundi, and that’s a very dangerous sign,” said Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. “Both government army officers and rebel commanders must hold their troops accountable for these deliberate attacks on ordinary people who have no place to run.”

The briefing also documents cases of children abducted to serve in rebel forces.

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