The UN wants to send experts to probe the Burundi graves

New York – The UN wants to send independent forensic experts in Burundi to help authorities investigate allegations of mass graves in the war-torn country, a senior official said Wednesday.
After a government security operation in December, witnesses have come forward with accounts of at least nine mass graves in and around Bujumbura, including one in a military camp where more than 100 bodies were buried.
Bodies were thrown into mass graves by the police who had conducted raids in Bujumbura, the arrest and the young men shot in response to a December 11 attack by gunmen on three military barracks.
Assistant Secretary General of the UN for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic told reporters that the Burundian prosecutor opened an investigation into alleged mass graves and that the United Nations had offered to help.
“Someone has to dig mass graves. We would like to be present when this is done and offer to provide forensic experts, “said Simonovic.
The government, which has rejected the allegations, did not respond to the UN offer for experts to be on site for excavation.
UN officials for human rights examine satellite images of alleged mass graves and pressing the government to act quickly to shed light on the allegations.
Burundi has been in turmoil since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced in April to run for a third term, which he won.
More than 400 people died in the violence and at least 230,000 have fled the country.
UN Security Council ambassadors went to Burundi last month to push Nkurunziza to open serious negotiations with the opposition and accept an international presence.
The mission was to prevent a slide into ethnic massacres in Burundi between Hutus and Tutsis, similar to the violence that led to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.