Rights
group Amnesty says it has found five possible mass graves near Burundi's
capital, where security forces are accused of killing scores of people in
December.
Meanwhile,
Burundian police said they had arrested two foreign journalists who were
reporting on armed groups.
Violence
in the country began last April, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he
would seek a third term.
At
least 439 people have died and 240,000 have fled abroad, the UN says.
African
Union (AU) leaders are due to discuss the crisis in Burundi at a summit in
Ethiopia.
They
want Mr Nkurunziza to accept peacekeeping troops to prevent Burundi sliding
into ethnic conflict, but analysts say he is unlikely to agree.
Amnesty
says satellite images show disturbed earth at sites in the Buringa area on
the edge of the capital Bujumbura that are consistent with witness reports.
"These
images suggest a deliberate effort by the authorities to cover up the extent of
the killings by their security forces and to prevent the full truth from coming
out," said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty's regional director for East Africa,
the Horn and the Great Lakes.
At
least 87 people were killed in December's crackdown, which came after military
bases were attacked by gunmen, but the UN said the true number may be much
higher.
The
UN said it was also analysing satellite images to investigate reports of
at least nine mass graves, including one in a military camp said to contain
more than 100 bodies.
Meanwhile,
police said they had arrested French journalist Jean-Philippe Remy, Africa
bureau chief for French daily Le Monde, and British photojournalist Phil Moore,
as well as 15 other people on Thursday.
"The
two foreigners were arrested in the company of armed criminals," the
security ministry said in a statement, adding that a mortar, a Kalashnikov
rifle and pistols were also seized.
Le
Monde has demanded their release (in French) while the Foreign
Correspondents' Association of East Africa said it was "extremely
concerned" by the arrests.
The
two journalists have covered the region for many years and have won awards for
their work. (www.bbc.com)
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