Burundian asylum seeker deported from US detained back home

KAMPALA, Uganda – Burundian activists say a man recently deported from the United States after failing to receive political asylum has been detained without charge back home.

The group iBurundi, which monitors alleged government abuses, says Clement Nkurunziza has had no access to a lawyer since his March 22 arrest.

Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye confirmed Nkurunziza is in custody but gave no details.

iBurundi says Nkurunziza was arrested after arriving on a plane from the U.S. Over 1,000 people had signed an online petition urging the U.S. not to send Nkurunziza back to Burundi, saying "his life would be in jeopardy."

Nkurunziza had urged Burundi's president to retire after two terms in 2015. Deadly protests broke out when President Pierre Nkurunziza successfully sought another term. The two men are not related.

The International Criminal Court judges last year authorized an investigation into allegations of state-sponsored crimes in the East African nation that the U.N. human rights chief recently called one of "the most prolific slaughterhouses of humans in recent times."