Ethnic violence reported.

• Position: Burundi

With reports of ethnic violence still emerging from Burundi, the UN and other international and regional organizations have continued to monitor the troubling situation in that Central African nation.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 4 April stressed that preventive UN action was needed as reports of violent incidents in parts of Burundi continued to circulate.

His Special Representative, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, sought a meeting of political and other leaders in the capital city of Bujumbura in early April to address the situation.

Escalating violence was the subject of Security Council action on 29 March, when it deplored the ethnic killings that had caused thousands to flee their homes. The activities of "extremist elements", who were attempting to destabilize the country, were condemned.

On 6 April, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso had condemned continuing human rights violations in Burundi which had gone "largely unpunished".

"The international community has to act now if it wants to avoid in Burundi the repetition of the tragedy of Rwanda", he warned. Preventive human rights action - aimed at promoting respect for human rights, and strengthening democracy, tolerance and the rule of law - was "indispensable".

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil was appointed Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burundi on 21 April by the Commission on Human...