The International Criminal Court (ICC) will investigate the outbreaks of violence in Burundi that has killed hundreds and displaced thousands since a political crisis erupted last year.
The office of the United Nations human rights high commissioner estimates that at least 430 people have been killed in the East African country since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would run for a controversial third term in office.
Nkurunziza went on to win the poll conducted in July.
Fatou Bensouda on Monday said that she had seen reports of atrocities, disappearances, torture and rape.
“All these acts appear to fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC,” she said. “…At least 3,400 people have been arrested and over 230,000 Burundians forced to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.”
Western powers and regional states fear Burundi could slide back into the ethnically charged conflict that characterized its 1993-2005 civil war.
