BUJUMBURA, Burundi
At least 70 protestors have been killed in clashes with security forces during six weeks of ongoing street protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's plan to run for a third term, a local activist said.
Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, head of a local NGO called the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons, said that at least 70 people had been killed – along with 500 injured and 1,000 detained – since protests erupted on April 25 after the ruling party announced Nkurunziza's candidacy in the upcoming presidential polls.
At a Friday press conference, Mbonimpa said that security forces had tortured a number of demonstrators, a charge the government denies.
Burundi has been rocked by protest since late April, when Nkurunziza – in power since 2005 – said he planned to vie for a third term in officefollowing the ruling party’s endorsement.
The country’s opposition, for its part, says Nkurunziza does not have the right to seek a third term, citing the country’s constitution, which limits presidents to two terms in office.
Over the course of the last six weeks, numerous protests have been staged in capital Bujumbura, with demonstrators calling on the president to step down.
The violence has prompted hundreds of Burundians to flee their homes in hopes of finding refuge in neighboring countries.
Gaspard Baratuza, spokesman for Burundi's Interior Ministry, said on Friday that "civil war rumors in Burundi are not real."
