[JURIST] A group of UN rights experts on Thursday called [press release] for the UN Security Council [official website] to take action to prevent an escalation of violence in Burundi ahead of presidential elections. Groups in the country are clashing over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s [BBC profile] decision to seek a third term, which opponents believe to be unconstitutional. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni [official website] has been chairing mediation talks [Aljazeera report] between the Burundi government and its opposition. The leaders met late Tuesday night in the capital city of Bujumbura, with Agathon Rwasa, the most prominent of the opposition leaders, being in attendance. In their release, the experts warned against holding elections until the conflict has been addressed:

If the government persists in holding presidential elections under the current circumstances – something even the former first Vice-President objected to after also having fled the country – they will in no way confer any legitimacy on the to-be-elected authorities. On the contrary, the elections are highly likely to result in major instability and confrontations in Burundi, with the potential to spread to the region.

The unrest in Burundi intensified in May after the Constitutional Court ruled that he could seek a third term [JURIST report] in office without violating the country’s constitution, which states that presidents shall be universally elected into office for a term of five years and can renew the term once. Those opposing Nkurunziza’s bid for a third presidential term claim that both the constitution and the Arusha peace deal [agreement, PDF] that ended the 2005 civil war state that no one should be president for more than 10 years. Those backing Nkurunziza claim that this does not apply to him since he was not voted in for his first term but selected by lawmakers. Earlier this month UN observers said [JURIST report] that the parliamentary elections held in Burundi were unfair, not free and led to human rights violations. In June Burundi opposition leader Agathon Rwasa said [JURIST report] that a presidential election must be held by August so that a newly elected government is in place by the time Nkurunziza’s term ends August 26. In May Burundi authorities arrested [JURIST report] political opposition leader Audifax Ndabitoreye shortly after he met with East African Community ministers in the capital city of Bujumbura.