Burundi is at "crossroads" ahead of key elections, the UN rights chief said Wednesday.

"I will put it bluntly: as I prepared for this mission, I talked to many knowledgeable people, within and outside the UN, in Geneva and New York," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein told reporters in Bujumbura.

"They were all, without exception, alarmed about the direction the country appears to be taking."

"The root of many people's fears -- and many people in Burundi are very afraid -- is the militia of the Imbonerakure," he said.