Gunmen Shoot Leading Burundi Human Rights Activist

A leading human rights activist in restive Burundi was shot and severely wounded in the capital Bujumbura on Monday, according to civic leaders, a day after a top general was assassinated.Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, president of The Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH), was fired upon while walking home late Monday, said Vital Nshimirimana of the Forum for Strengthening the Civil Society.
Balthazar Fengure, a fellow member of the APRODH, said Mbonimpa “has been very badly wounded” in the attack and was currently in hospital.
Mbonimpa has been an outspoken opponent of President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a controversial third term in office and was arrested on April 27 for calling for protests against the Burundi leader before later being released.
The shooting comes a day after the assassination of Adolphe Nshimirimana, a top military general and close ally of Nkurunziza.
Gunmen wearing military uniforms shot dead Nshimirimana, who was in charge of the president’s personal security, while he was in a car alongside three of his bodyguards in the Kamenge district of the capital, witnesses said.