UN Secretary-General, Security Council urge probe of massacre at Burundi refugee camp

The United Nations Security Council and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today strongly condemned Friday night's massacre at a refugee camp in Burundi, where more than 160 innocent Congolese civilians, mostly women and children, were brutally murdered, and over 100 others injured.

The rebel Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL) of Agathon Rwasa – the only group which has not joined the Burundi peace process – claimed responsibility for barrage of bullets and grenades which rained on the Gatumba refugee transit camp, some 16 kilometres northwest of Bujumbura near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The victims were Banyamulenge (ethnic Tutsi) women, children and other innocents who were shot dead and burned in their shelters.

Meeting in a hastily called session this evening, the Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement calling for UN envoys to the region “to establish the facts and report on them to the Council as quickly as possible.” The UN missions in Burundi and DRC were asked to help the authorities in those countries to help the investigation and to protect vulnerable populations.

“The Security Council calls upon the authorities of Burundi and of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to cooperate actively so that the perpetrators and those responsible for these crimes [can] be brought to justice without delay,” said Andrey I. Denisov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, which currently holds the 15-member body's rotating presidency.

The Council statement also addressed States in the region, calling for them to “ensure that the territorial integrity of their neighbours is respected” and to protect security for civilians.

Separately, in a statement released by his spokesman, the Secretary-General voiced outrage at the massacre, stressing that it must be promptly investigated “so that those responsible are identified, apprehended and brought to justice.”

He urged the Governments of the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda “to exercise restraint and to take the steps necessary to prevent a further deterioration of the situation in the region.”

The Congolese and Rwanda Governments were urged to establish a joint verification mechanism, with the participation of Uganda and Burundi, to help in curbing the actions of armed groups operating in the border areas.

“The Secretary-General offers all support to these governments to help them to restore peace and stability and to put an end to the tensions that have caused so much suffering to innocent people in the region,” the spokesman said.