(4 Apr 1995) Eng/French/Nat
The Burundian government has denied the army was involved in the massacre of at least 150 people in the north-east of the country last week.
But an Italian priest told APTV he believed the killings were the work of soldiers, who retaliated after a grenade attack on a military driver.
Another victim of the continuing ethnic violence in the central African country of Burundi.
This man was found dead on the main road out of the capital, Bujumbura.
Exactly how he died, why and by whom he was killed is unknown.
Further up in the north-east of the country, reports are still coming in of the massacre of at least 150 people in the village of Gasorwe.
The killings were first reported by US ambassador Robert Krueger.
Krueger has been travelling to villages throughout the country to talk to survivors and witnesses of ethnic violence.
He told APTV he was determined to find out the truth behind the killings and said he believed the violence was perpetrated by a small minority of extremists.
SOUNDBITE:
"My judgement is that the majority of people in this country want peace, the majority want justice, the majority want reconciliation. But the country is being driven by a small minority at this time. A small minority of extremists who kill with impunity, who torture, who intimidate. Every person in the country virtually is afraid."
SUPER CAPTION: Robert Krueger - US ambassador to Burundi
Gasorwe, where 150 people are thought to have been massacred, has become a ghost town.
The mud huts are abandoned and only fresh graves show there was life here before the massacre.
An Italian priest who runs a mission in the nearby village of Gisanze told APTV of the events leading up to the killings.
He said he believed trouble started when a military driver was injured by a grenade and soldiers retaliated.
SOUNDBITE: (In French)
"And after they came from Muyinga, from there the soldiers began killing in many different places. They started firing guns to frighten people. And the people escaped and in the swamp that's where we found the military with the bayonets."
SUPER CAPTION: Priest Paul Stasi]
Most reports about the killings say the attackers wore army uniforms, hinting at involvement of the Tutsi-dominated military.
But the government denies the army is attacking Hutus and accused the media of sensationalism.
SOUNDBITE: (In French)
"So it's my opinion that the information (that 150 people were killed) is completely false. The authorities are involved in more important things, like humanitarian aid, rather than military operations."
SUPER CAPTION: Lieutenant Colonel Nicodemus Ndurirubusa - advisor to Burundi prime minister
Since independence in 1962, Burundi's Hutus and Tutsis have fought
each other for control of the country.
More than 100-thousand people have been killed since a failed October 1993 coup attempt by members of the Tutsi-dominated army.
However, observers believe neither side is powerful enough to launch a large-scale massacre like the one in Rwanda last year.
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