Mandela stance on political prisoners queried

The Burundi human rights league ITEKA has broadly welcomed the new focus on political prisoners in the country since Arusha peace facilitator Nelson Mandela called for their release, but also expressed concern that his words could be misinterpreted and contribute to the culture of impunity which, it says, has been at the heart of Burundi’s crisis since 1993. ITEKA’s leader Louise-Marie Nindorera said Mandela’s speech could give the impression that prisoners who were guilty of terrible crimes had only “to get their crimes recognised as part of a political or ideological campaign” to justify their release, the independent Hirondelle news agency reported on Wednesday. Mandela had failed to distinguish between giving hope to the innocent and cautioning the guilty against the use of violence, and he should “clarify his position on this”, she added. Meanwhile, the Burundian Association for the Defence of Prisoners’ Rights (ADBBP) said government recognition of the existence of political prisoners was the first bridge to be crossed, but that the right of all prisoners to a fair trial - without distinction - must not be allowed to contribute to the culture of impunity, Hirondelle reported. The association suggested the setting up of a commission to establish criteria for different prisoners and study the circumstances in which individuals were detained, it said. ADBBP founder Pierre Claver, himself a former prisoner, said the task was an easy one and could be completed in less than a month since the association already had many of the prison records to hand, Hirondelle reported. With the international community and civil society exerting pressure on the issue of political prisoners, and State Prosecutor Gerard Ngendabanka having proposed a national debate on the issue, the ball was now in the government’s court, it added.