Burundi elections not credible, UN
Bujumbura, 3 Jul - (ANA) - Elections in Burundi that were racked by violence and boycotted by the opposition were not free or credible, United Nations observers said on Thursday, after clashes left six dead in the capital. Parliamentary and local elections were held on Monday despite an appeal by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, for a postponement after months of turmoil. The UN electoral observer mission said in a report that the elections took place “in a tense political crisis and a climate of widespread fear and intimidation in parts of the country”. “Episodes of violence and explosions preceded and in some cases accompanied election day activities, mostly in Bujumbura,” said the nine-page report. The mission concluded “that the environment was not conducive for free, credible and inclusive elections”. The results of the parliamentary polls were yet to be released but Belgium said it would not recognise the outcome and the United States ratcheted up international pressure, calling for presidential elections on 15 July to be delayed. Clashes in the capital Bujumbura on Wednesday left six dead in the opposition stronghold of Citiboke district, which has seen weeks of protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s rule. Police said a grenade was thrown at one of their patrols, injuring two officers and triggering gun battles in which one police officer died. Five others, described as members of an armed group, were killed, but witnesses said they had been murdered by police. An AFP reporter at the scene saw the six bodies, three of whom had bullet wounds to the head. The elections on Monday set the stage for the presidential vote but a US State Department spokesman, John Kirby, urged Nkurunziza to delay the polls. He asked the president “to place the welfare of Burundi’s citizens above his own political ambitions and participate in dialogue with the opposition and civil society to identify a peaceful solution to this deepening crisis”. “This solution should include the delay of the July 15 presidential elections until conditions are in place for free, fair and peaceful elections,” Kirby said. The UN observers said ruling party candidates were able to campaign throughout the country but that opposition politicians were “much less visible”. The report described widespread media restrictions, with journalists targeted for assaults, detentions, attacks and expulsions. International alarm has been growing over the crisis in Burundi, triggered by Nkurunziza’s bid to run for a third consecutive five-year term. Opponents say that is unconstitutional and violates a peace accord that ended 13 years of civil war in 2006. At least 70 people have been killed and more than 140,000 have fled Burundi seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. (ANA)

FA/ANA/3 July 2015---------