Rights body tips Burundi on measures to be implemented now

The human rights organisation, Amnesty International (AI), on Tuesday highlighted measures which should be implemented now by the current government, political leaders, leaders of the armed political movements, civil society and the international community to protect human rights in Burundi as it prepares to set up the transitional government on 1 November. “The move towards these eighteen months of transitional government, a period of significant institutional reform, provides both opportunities and challenges for increasing protection,” the organisation said. It noted that the year-old agreement for peace and reconciliation in the country provides, in the main, a legal framework which could ensure better respect for human rights. However, its negotiation and signature generated a spiral of political tension and an upsurge in political violence and human rights abuses. “Significant obstacles must be overcome if a durable solution to the political and military crisis is to be found, in which human rights can be better respected,” it said. The organisation therefore called on the current government in Burundi to ensure that members of the security forces who carry out human rights violations are held accountable for their actions, both now and during the transition. It asked the government to organise and encourage debate on key human rights issues around conflict and transitional arrangements, including on the question of impunity and justice, with a view to promoting a central role for human rights in the transitional process and preventing human rights violations. It urged that the government should ensure that freedom of expression and of the media are respected during this period and that it (government) cease arming the population and take urgent measures to prevent abuses by the Gardiens de la Paix, a government militia. The organisation asked the commanders and political leaders of armed movements to ensure that ongoing talks in which they are involved discuss ways of preventing human rights abuses in the current situation, and in the future. They were urged to instruct their forces not to carry out human rights abuses. “Any abuses should be publicly acknowledged and condemned and those responsible should be held accountable. They should be removed from positions where they may be able to carry out such abuses,” AI said. It appealed to the international community to support independent and impartial national human rights groups and defenders, in recognition of the important role they could play in the current context and to ensure that international peacekeeping forces have the mandate and capacity to protect persons belonging to all ethnic communities and political groups in Burundi from human rights abuses. “The duty to monitor and report on human rights abuses should explicitly be included in their mandate,” it said.