Burundian soldiers reportedly beat Rwandan refugees           Source: Reuters                                                                             May 13, 2005

GENEVA, May 13 (Reuters) - Burundian soldiers reportedly beat Rwandan refugees at a camp holding 1,500 recent asylum-seekers, most of whom have fled the site, the United Nations said on Friday.

"UNHCR is extremely concerned at reports from some Rwandan asylum seekers in Burundi that indicate physical and verbal intimidation are being used to force them to go home," said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Asylum seekers at Ntega "told our staff that the Burundian military broke into their shelters on Wednesday evening and beat them with batons," he added. The soldiers warned the refugees they would be beaten again "unless they had left the site by the end of the next day".

Ntega is in Burundi's northeastern province of Kirundo.

Nearly 7,000 Rwandans have fled to Burundi since early April, many citing threats and rumours of massacres and revenge attacks linked to new village courts trying Hutus suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide, according to the UNHCR.

Redmond, asked whether civilians or other forces had been involved in the attack, replied: "The only reports I have seen cite the Burundian military as the alleged perpetrators of this."

Only a few hundred of the 1,500 asylum seekers staying at the makeshift site were still around early on Thursday when UNHCR staff arrived to investigate.

Pickup trucks were spotted leaving the area for Rwanda, carrying up to 300 people, while others were leaving on foot, according to the UNHCR spokesman.

So-called gacaca tribunals, traditional village courts, have been rolled out across Rwanda, creating fears of indictments and ethnic violence, and sparking the exodus.

The courts were set up to deal with a backlog of suspects awaiting trial in conventional courts on charges of involvement in the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates. More than 80,000 genocide suspects are in prison on remand.

Burundian and Rwandan authorities have extended by a week a campaign aimed at easing the fears of the asylum seekers and encouraging them to return home voluntarily, according to UNHCR. 

Burundi had assured the UNHCR that returns will be voluntary and it will allow agency protection officers to participate in determining the status of individual claimants, it says.

The U.N. refugee agency considers the Rwandans to be asylum seekers pending examination of their claims. 

Asked about the identity of the 7,000 and their possible role in the genocide, Redmond replied: "Exactly who they all