Burundi massacre trial hits snag

2008-06-03 14:51

Bujumbura - Burundi's military court on Tuesday said it could not try suspects accused of massacring civilians in 2006 on the grounds that two of them had since quit the army, said a judicial source.

"The military tribunal has just declared itself incompetent to handle this case because of two of the suspects have since returned to civilian life," defence lawyer Deo Ndikumana said.

"The court subsequently asked the military prosecutor to transfer the case to a civilian court," he said.

In July 2006, civilians accused of collaborating with the rebel National Liberation Forces (FNL) were detained in the eastern Burundian military camp of Mukoni. Thirty-one were killed.

"We are not satisfied. The court should have taken into account the fact that these men were soldiers at the time... and we reserve the right to appeal this decision," Ndikumana said.

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, who chaired the Association for the protection of detainees and human rights (APRODEH) saw the move as a trick to drag out the proceedings on a highly sensitive case.

Burundi was trying to foster a fragile reconciliation process after a civil war that had killed 300 000 people in 15 years.

In late May, the FNL - Burundi's last active rebel group - and the government signed a cessation of hostilities following fresh clashes, with both signs promising the war was definitively over.

- AFP