DATE=10/25/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N / BURUNDI (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255444
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A United Nations special investigator reports
a sharp deterioration in the human rights situation in
Burundi as a consequence of the country's civil war
and worsening economic conditions. Lisa Schlein in
Geneva reports the investigator -- just returned from
a fact-finding visit to Burundi -- says she is shocked
by the living conditions of the civilian population.
TEXT: The U-N special investigator, Marie-Therese
Keita, says it will take an immense effort to turn
Burundi into a lawful society.
Ms. Keita says the political climate of the country is
marked by violence, fear, and a general sense of
injustice. She says intensified fighting between the
Tutsi-led army and Hutu rebels is creating greater
instability in the government, as are strong ethnic
and regional divisions.
She adds that this general atmosphere of heightened
insecurity strongly influences the human rights
situation in Burundi.
/// KEITA ACT ONE - IN FRENCH - FADE UNDER ///
The U-N investigator says 80 people were killed in the
fighting during her two-week stay in Burundi.
Ms. Keita also says the country's economic situation
is alarming. She says that one-third of the Burundi
government's budget goes to the army. At the same
time, she says most of the population lives under the
poverty line, inflation is spiraling out of control,
and unemployment is extremely high.
/// KEITA ACT TWO - IN FRENCH - FADE UNDER ///
Ms. Keita says Burundi's precarious economy is
aggravating the human rights situation. She says
killings and arbitrary executions by the government,
rebels, and unidentified groups are rising as are what
she calls irregularities in the justice system.
Ms. Keita says the forcible displacement of more than
300-thousand civilians into 50 so-called regroupment
camps constitutes a massive violation of their human
rights. She says camp residents are not allowed to
cultivate their fields. And, this, she warns, will
have long-range devastating consequences for the
economy.
The U-N human rights expert says many of the people in
the camps are badly malnourished, and some are dying
of hunger. She says the recent killing of two United
Nations aid workers will only worsen their plight, as
most of the people in the camps are dependent on
international aid. (Signed)
NEB/LS/JWH/LTD/kl
25-Oct-1999 11:01 AM EDT (25-Oct-1999 1501 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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