The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution strongly
condemning increasing killings, torture and human rights violations in
Burundi and threatening possible sanctions against those contributing to
the violence.
The vote on Thursday Nov 12,2015 followed an urgent call by international leaders for a meeting of Burundi's government and opposition amid fears the country is at risk of a Rwanda-like genocide.
The resolution asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to deploy a team to Burundi to work with the government, African Union and other partners to "develop options to address political and security concerns".
"The Security Council must fully embrace its role of prevention... and not let the genie of ethnic violence out of the bottle," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters.
Matthew Rycroft, British ambassador to the UN, described Thursday's resolution as "an important step forward".
He added: "It sends a united signal to all parties in Burundi to engage in dialogue and refrain from inciting violence."
A joint statement by the UN, EU and AU on Thursday called for a meeting of representatives of Burundi's government and opposition in Addis Ababa, where the AU is based, or Kampala, Uganda’s capital. A regional bloc has nominated Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to mediate the crisis, but the talks have not started.
The joint statement warned of "the threat for many more lives and a deep regional crisis" and said the organizations agreed to "work closely together and to mobilize all our means and instruments to prevent a further deterioration of the situation".
Note
At least 240 people have been killed since President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a controversial bid to prolong his term in office in April 2015
![At least 240 people have been killed and more than 210,000 have fled the country since April [AP]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sUVDX2wI8R9YhAUqBh4jHi5qQcA94saHDYPU9DSK_QQ2gaTYMAQGoJSX2J0gCXeAMdq8Noxbm7xFOfU9yndolN6sIhTcsFiLWYYUZxaV4wqMyfGE_-xgAv8pMk2fPBNpQuUmxsR1HVqdktn79XP22dbi9g_WxdabSJCwMRLUze0YoqBsnm6ZyGxksUTAty-3mDMLCMODVU57I=s0-d "UN condemns Burundi killings as violence escalates")
More than 210,000 people have fled the country since then.
The vote on Thursday Nov 12,2015 followed an urgent call by international leaders for a meeting of Burundi's government and opposition amid fears the country is at risk of a Rwanda-like genocide.
The resolution asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to deploy a team to Burundi to work with the government, African Union and other partners to "develop options to address political and security concerns".
"The Security Council must fully embrace its role of prevention... and not let the genie of ethnic violence out of the bottle," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters.
Matthew Rycroft, British ambassador to the UN, described Thursday's resolution as "an important step forward".
He added: "It sends a united signal to all parties in Burundi to engage in dialogue and refrain from inciting violence."
A joint statement by the UN, EU and AU on Thursday called for a meeting of representatives of Burundi's government and opposition in Addis Ababa, where the AU is based, or Kampala, Uganda’s capital. A regional bloc has nominated Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to mediate the crisis, but the talks have not started.
The joint statement warned of "the threat for many more lives and a deep regional crisis" and said the organizations agreed to "work closely together and to mobilize all our means and instruments to prevent a further deterioration of the situation".
Note
At least 240 people have been killed since President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a controversial bid to prolong his term in office in April 2015
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