File Photo of United Nations Security Council.
Paris:
The UN Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss Burundi as "hate speech" threatens to exacerbate a deteriorating political situation, the French foreign ministry said today.
"At our demand, the UN Security Council will meet on Monday 9 November over the situation in Burundi," said French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal, denouncing the wave of "hate speech" which threatens to inflame the central African country.
Burundi has seen months of violence triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's successful bid to win a third term in office, prompting a dramatic rise in killings, arrests and detentions.
Monday's session will also be attended by representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and members of the African Union, Nadal said.
"France condemns hate speech, as its impact on communities is unacceptable. We call on all Burundian stakeholders, the government and the opposition, to demonstrate restraint and to engage in political dialogue which is the only way to overcome the current crisis," he said.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has also warned over the dangers posed by the escalating violence and the "increasingly hardline rhetoric" in Burundi in a report released late on Thursday.
"Burundi again faces the possibility of mass atrocities and civil war," the Brussels-based think tank warned.
"Escalating violence, increasingly hardline rhetoric and the continued stream of refugees (more than 200,000) indicate that divisions are widening, and the 'national dialogue' is doing little to relieve the mounting tensions," the group said.
"At our demand, the UN Security Council will meet on Monday 9 November over the situation in Burundi," said French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal, denouncing the wave of "hate speech" which threatens to inflame the central African country.
Burundi has seen months of violence triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's successful bid to win a third term in office, prompting a dramatic rise in killings, arrests and detentions.
Monday's session will also be attended by representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and members of the African Union, Nadal said.
"France condemns hate speech, as its impact on communities is unacceptable. We call on all Burundian stakeholders, the government and the opposition, to demonstrate restraint and to engage in political dialogue which is the only way to overcome the current crisis," he said.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has also warned over the dangers posed by the escalating violence and the "increasingly hardline rhetoric" in Burundi in a report released late on Thursday.
"Burundi again faces the possibility of mass atrocities and civil war," the Brussels-based think tank warned.
"Escalating violence, increasingly hardline rhetoric and the continued stream of refugees (more than 200,000) indicate that divisions are widening, and the 'national dialogue' is doing little to relieve the mounting tensions," the group said.
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