This document states that refugees from Burundi returning to their country are facing the same human rights abuses that forced them to flee in the first place. The civil war and ethnic violence in Burundi have not abated since October 1993. Killings of unarmed civilians, including the elderly and children, are reported virtually every week. At least 10, 000 casualties have been recorded since Major Pierre Buyoya took power in a military coup on 25 July 1996.