Burundi: UN experts call for determined Security Council
action to prevent mass violence in the Great Lakes region
GENEVA (16 July 2015) –
A group of United Nations human rights experts* today urged the Security
Council to take immediate action to prevent Burundi from sliding back into
violent conflict ahead of presidential elections, a crisis which will not leave
the other countries in the region, including Rwanda and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, unaffected. Thus far, 145,000 persons have fled to neighbouring
countries in fear for their lives.
“The world is witnessing an escalating pattern of
politically motivated violence in Burundi, enabled by the country’s
decades-long tradition of impunity,” the experts warned. “The international
community must not simply stand by and wait for mass atrocities to unfold,
thereby risking a major conflict of regional proportions before it finally
decides to act,” the Special Rapporteurs added, pointing to repeated cycles of
mass violations that Burundi and the Great Lakes region have witnessed in
recent history.
The situation in Burundi has already involved serious
human rights violations. “It is accumulating the well-known and visible marks
of a society which previously suffered divisions leading to grave violence.
This can escalate into major conflict through the use of outright repression
against, and intimidation of, the population at large, the instrumentalization
of the police, the closure of independent media, as well as the detention of
the opposition and other civic leaders. We also witness efforts to coerce the
judiciary, some of whose highest members have fled the country claiming their
lives were at risk. In the meantime, armed militias, with the collaboration of
authorities, exercise violence against civilians. In these circumstances, it is
not surprising that the results of the 29 June elections have generally not
been endorsed,” the experts raised alarm.
“The absence of independent media and a climate of
repression and fear to exercise civil rights and express opinions, notably by
peacefully taking to the streets, have marred the recent elections and will also
be defining the forthcoming presidential elections, now scheduled for 21 July.
The postponement by six days of the presidential elections does not remedy this
blatant deficiency,” the mandate-holders stated.
“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
experts warned.
On 9 July, the situation on Burundi was most recently
discussed by the Security Council. The seven independent experts strongly
echoed the call made by the High Commissioner for Human Rights to immediately
disarm the youth militia Imbonerakure which is spreading major violence and
intimidation among the population. The experts join the High Commissioner in
recalling that the people of Burundi “have a right to go about their lives
peacefully, in freedom, equality and dignity; without fear, and with equitable
access to their country's many resources and opportunities.”
“The Security Council has a unique role for peace and
security and for preventing conflicts worldwide. This is a crisis that is
eminently preventable – everyone can see the risks. What is lacking is action,”
underscored the independent experts. “Given the painful history of Burundi and
the region, the long engagement of the United Nations in the country to
re-build peace, the Security Council must be all the more alerted to the
increasing potential of an escalation of massive violence,” the experts added.
“Burundians, who live in the world’s third poorest
country must be spared another cycle of violence, with the misery and
destruction that violence always leave on its wake. They look to the Security
Council to live up to its unique role in the prevention of mass atrocities,”
the experts urged.
(*) The experts: Special Rapporteur on the promotion of
truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff;
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof
Heyns; Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela
Knaul; Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Michel
Forst; Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion
and expression, David Kaye; Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of
peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai; and the Chairperson of the
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Seong-Phil Hong.
ENDS
The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of
what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special
Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights
system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and
monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or
thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on
a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their
work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in
their individual capacity.
Statement of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on
Burundi at the Security Council briefing (9 July):
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16221&LangID=E
Learn more, log on to:
Truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/TruthJusticeReparation/Pages/Index.aspx
Summary executions:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Executions/Pages/SRExecutionsIndex.aspx
Independence of the judiciary:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Judiciary/Pages/IDPIndex.aspx
Human rights defenders:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/SRHRDefendersIndex.aspx
Freedom of opinion and expression:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomOpinion/Pages/OpinionIndex.aspx
Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/AssemblyAssociation/Pages/SRFreedomAssemblyAssociationIndex.aspx
Arbitrary detention:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Detention/Pages/WGADIndex.aspx
UN Human Rights, Country Page – Burundi:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/BIIndex.aspx
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