Kurzweil
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- May 25, 2011
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Waziri wa mazingira wa Burundi ameuwawa kwa kupigwa risasi. Waziri Emmanuel Niyonkuru aliyekuwa na umri wa miaka 54 alishambuliwa na mtu asiyejulikana wakati ambapo alikuwa akielekea nyumbani
Mauaji hayo yametokea kwenye maeneo ya Rohero katika mji mkuu wa Bujumbura. Msemaji wa polisi Pierre Nkurikiye ameeleza kwamba wanamshikilia mwanamke mmoja kwa tuhuma za kuhusika na mauaji hayo. Mauaji hayo ni ya kwanza kutokea yanayomuhusisha mtu mwenye wadhfa wa juu serikalini katika muda wa miaka miwili wa machafuko ya kisiasa yanayoendelea nchini Burundi.
Maandamano yalizuka mapema mwaka wa 2015 baada ya Rais Pierre Nkurunziza kusema atagombea kwa muhula wa tatu – hatua ambayo wapinzani walisema ilikiuka katiba na muafaka wa amani ambao ulimaliza vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe. Karibu watu 500 wameuawa na wengine karibu 300,000 kukimbia nchini humo tangu machafuko yalianza Aprili 2015 wakati waandamanaji – na kisha waliopanga mapinduzi ya kijeshi – waliupinga muhula wa tatu wa Nkurunziza.
Rais Nkurunziza amethibitisha kwenye mtandao wa Twitter kuwa waziri huyo ameuawa na akatoa salamu za rambirambi kwa familia na raia wote wa Burundi. Nkurunziza alichaguliwa tena katika uchaguzi wa rais wa Julai 2015 uliosusiwa kwa kiasi kikubwa na upinzani
Mauaji hayo yametokea siku chache tu baada ya Nkurunziza kudokeza kuwa huenda akafanya mabadiliko ya kikatiba yatakayomruhusu kuongoza kwa muhula wa nne katika uchaguzi wa mwaka wa 2020. Alisema Ijumaa iliyopita kuwa "kama watu wataniomba nifanye hivyo, hatutaisaliti imani ya nchi, hatutaisailiti imani ya watu"
Niyonkuru ni waziri wa kwanza wa serikali kuuawa lakini viongozi wengine wakuu serkalini walilengwa wakati wa miezi hiyo ya mgogoro.
Jenerali Adolphe Nshimirimana aliyekuwa mpambe wa karibu wa Nkurunziza, aliuawa Agosti 2015. Karibu mwaka mmoja baadaye, waziri wa zamani serikalini na msemaji Hafsa Mossi aliuawa na mtu aliyekuwa na silaha, wakati akiwa garini mwake.
Mashambulizi mengine yameshindwa, ambapo mshauri mkuu wa rais Willy Nyamitwe, msemaji anayeonekana kuwa sura ya serikali kwa umma, aliponea shambulizi la genge la watu waliokuwa na silaha wakati akirejea nyumbani kwake Bujumbura.
Mnamo mwezi Aprili, waziri wa haki za binaadamu Martin Nivyabandi na mkewe walijeruhiwa katika shambulizi la guruneti wakati wakiondoka kanisani.
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Police in Burundi say the country’s environment minister was shot dead in the capital early Sunday.
Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said in a tweet that Emmanuel Niyonkuru, who was 54, was killed in Bujumbura while on his way home.
The shooting is the first of a senior government official since Burundi fell into political turmoil nearly two years ago over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for a third term.
Abuses widespread
Human rights groups have warned that the tiny African country is at risk of genocide, calling for international action. They recently released a report that documents widespread abuses under the government of Nkurunziza.
The report describes killings, tortures, rapes and disappearances in Burundi since popular protests erupted in 2015 against the president’s third-term bid.
The report also says more than 1,000 people have died, hundreds have gone missing and thousands more are being detained or fleeing the country. It says many of the abuses were committed by youth militias and government security forces.
The human rights groups have called for an international peacekeeping mission and political dialogue to resolve the crisis.
Warnings of genocide
Florent Geel, Africa director for the Paris-based umbrella group International Federation for Human Rights, said, “Each day, a few people are arrested, disappeared, are killed. This is not a massive violation where all the cameras are coming, but it’s a daily violation.”
Anschaire Nikoyagize, the head of Burundian rights group ITEKA, currently lives in exile in Uganda. He said a new government census is among the tools being used to push Hutus to side with the government and turn a political conflict into an ethnic one — in a country scarred by a history of ethnic killings.
United Nations investigators have also warned of risks of a genocide in Burundi, and the International Criminal Court is considering a full investigation into alleged atrocities. The government, which denies its forces are involved in abuses, recently announced it was pulling out of the ICC.
Source: VoA/Swahili+English
