6,000 Slain in Burundi Since Coup, Amnesty International Reports

More than 6,000 people have been slaughtered in Burundi since a Tutsi former army major seized power July 25, purportedly to end ethnic bloodshed in the Central African country, Amnesty International said Thursday.

“We are disturbed that as many people have been massacred since the coup as were reported killed in the preceding three months,” the London-based human rights group said.

Amnesty International said attackers killed more than 4,000 civilians in central Burundi in a military operation to obtain information about Hutu rebel activity in the area. The report details other killings carried out by Tutsi soldiers.

Although they account for only 14% of Burundi’s 6 million people, Tutsis historically have controlled the nation’s army. Hutus make up 85% of the population.

Pierre Buyoya took control of the country last month, saying he acted to end Tutsi-Hutu violence that has killed more than 150,000 people since 1993.

Buyoya denied that there have been any recent massacres. He also said he had no knowledge of recent reported killings in the northern outskirts of Bujumbura.

Meanwhile, Zaire and Rwanda agreed Thursday to send home the more than 1 million Rwandan refugees who have been living in Zaire since mid-1994. There was no mention of what would happen to refugees who refused to go home, or how and when the operation would be carried out.

About 1.3 million Rwandan Hutu refugees live in more than 30 camps in eastern Zaire and have resisted returning home. Some say they fear retaliation for a Hutu government-sponsored massacre of up to 800,000 people in Rwanda in 1994. Most of the victims were minority Tutsis.