Is genocide still possible in late 2015? Yes, says Jean-Marie Gu\u00e9henno, head of International Crisis Group (ICG) and former head of the UN\u2019s department of peacekeeping operations, in a Tweet widely retweeted on Thursday. \u201cViolence in Burundi reminds one of pre-genocide Rwanda,\u201d he said. \u201cHigh time to stop slide towards disasters. UNSC and national leaders must mobilize.\u201d UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced deep concern after a leading rights activist's son was found dead, the latest in a series of murders linked to the crisis. Fearing a fresh escalation of the bloodshed, people started leaving parts of tutsi areas of Bujumbura, not believing a presidential aide who said on saturday : \"There will be no war or genocide\". The United Nations chief said the discovery of bodies -- \"many apparently summarily executed\" -- has become a \"regular occurrence\" in Burundi's capital. \"The recurring violence and killings in Burundi must stop,\" he warned. \"There has been violence both from security forces and opposition gunmen.\" But Washington's top envoy to the region, Thomas Perriello, specifically condemned what he called the \"inflammatory and dangerous government rhetoric\".
\u00a0In The Hague, the International Criminal Court warned it was ready to prosecute the instigators of any large-scale violence.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said if there is any conduct \"whether by security forces, militias or any armed forces\" that could \"amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, no one should doubt my resolve to fulfil my mandate so that the perpetrators do not go unpunished\". In support of its fears, ICG published a \u201ccrisis alert\u201d on the descent into Hell of this small African country since the contested re-election of President Pierre Nkurunziza and a ferocious clampdown on all opposition. The Early Warning Project, which focuses on \u201cprevention of crimes against humanity and mass atrocities\u201d, also put Burundi among the countries at high risk of civil war as government rhetoric took increasingly \u201cethnic\u201d tones on the eve of an ultimatum to the opposition. Burundian Senate president R\u00e9v\u00e9rien Ndikuriyo, who is close to Nkurunziza, threatened to \u201cpulverize\u201d rebellious areas of the capital. \u201cToday the police are firing at people\u2019s legs so as not to kill when they are the target of grenades in your areas,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the day they are told to go to work, don\u2019t come crying!\u201d Such language is a clear allusion to the Rwandan genocide of 1994 when Hutu militiamen going to massacre Tutsis were urged to \u201cwork\u201d well. So will the warnings be enough to stop the horror?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is genocide still possible in late 2015? Yes, says Jean-Marie Gu\u00e9henno, head of International Crisis Group (ICG) and former head of the UN\u2019s department of peacekeeping operations, in a Tweet widely retweeted on Thursday. \u201cViolence in Burundi reminds one of pre-genocide Rwanda,\u201d he said. \u201cHigh time to stop slide towards disasters. UNSC and national leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":67234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2153],"class_list":["post-2851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","ji_location-burundi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n