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| Articles about Burundi |
| Another victory for South African diplomacy - with African Union support, unelected Hutu-extremists demand every key government ministry in Burundi | | 2008-08-16 02:18:00 | | Hot on the heels of the African Union's bullying demand that the elected Burundian government enters into a powersharing deal with the unelected extremist group Palipehutu-FNL, South African diplomacy has delivered yet another edifying development. As the price for supposedly ending his ongoing campaign of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the FNL leader Agathon Rwasa has demanded that he be given control of every key government ministry, both Vice Presidencies, ten key Ambassadorial posts and over half the provincial governorships across the country. Four years and three days on from the FNL's brutal massacre at Gatumba, this would place the group in pole position to finish the genocide that was started in Rwanda in 1994, and continued across Burundi and in the DRC throughout the 1990s.Presumably we can now expect another African Union press release, lobbying for an elected government to accede, in the name of 'peace', to the demands of Burundi's answer to the Khmer Rouge. Great | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Communiqué de presse de la famille de Charlotte Wilson, tué au Burundi 28/12/00 | | 2008-08-11 14:34:00 | | "Quelle sorte de chef a suffisamment de courage pour ordonner le meurtre d'hommes, femmes et enfants sans armes, mais qui manque le courage de reconnaître ses faits et d'expliquer pourquoi une telle brutalité était nécessaire?"Londres, 9 août 2008Le 28 décembre 2000, Charlotte Wilson, professeur britannique, et son fiancé Burundais, Richard Ndereyimana ont été parmi les 21 personnes innocentes tuées pendant le massacre brutal des passagers du bus Titanic Express par le groupe extrémistePalipehutu-FNL.Malgré des preuves accablantes- y compris dépositions de témoins oculaires et documents, qui impliquent la FNL dans ce crime et dans beaucoup d'autres, Agathon Rwasa continue de nier que ses soldats étaient responsables.Nous demandons : Quelle sorte de chef a suffisamment de courage pour ordonner le meurtre d'hommes, femmes et enfants sans armes, mais qui manque le courage de reconnaître ses faits et d'expliquer pourquoi une telle brutalité était nécessaire ?Nous demando | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Groundhog day in Burundi as Rwasa declares an end to his campaign of violence - again | | 2008-05-30 16:48:00 | | Rwasa (r) promising to stop killing people in 2005Rwasa (l) promising to stop killing people in 2006Rwasa (c) promising to stop killing people in 2008It happened in 2005, it happened again in 2006, and now we're back here for round three: the FNL leader Agathon Rwasa has declared his intention to stop killing people, and affirmed his commitment to peace, democracy etc. while the UN and the international media look on and applaud. Strangely absent, as usual, from the media coverage of Rwasa's latest rebranding exercise, are the names of his many victims: - Pasteur Jacques Rutekereza, one of the 156 Congolese Tutsis murdered by a coalition of FNL, Mai-Mai and FDLR killers in the August 2004 Gatumba refugee camp massacre. Arthur Kabunda, Charlotte Wilson and Richard Ndereyimana, three of the 21 passengers who were massacred after the Titanic Express bus was ambushed close to Bujumbura in December 2000. The thousands of others killed in other bus ambushes around Bujumbura between 1993 and | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
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| Rhetoric versus reality: Burundi's leader feted by the churches in Northern Ireland just weeks after violent attacks on political opposition at home | | 2008-04-10 05:58:00 | | The Rev Trevor Stevenson, of Irish-based charity Fields of Life, which invited the President Nkurunziza to Northern Ireland, believes this is an opportunity to discuss reconciliation progress in both countries. His visit is a symbol of how far the political process has moved forward. “We are thrilled to have President Nkurunziza here as a guest of Fields of Life. The strong message that he hopes to convey is that through the word of God, forgiveness can be found in the bleakest of times,” -Belfast Newsletter, 5 April 2008http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/President-briefs-churchleaders-on-peace.3951147.jpThe attacks on the politicians’ homes took place almost simultaneously on March 8, 2008, suggesting they were a coordinated effort to intimidate the political opposition to the ruling party... Several opposition politicians have been threatened and targeted for violence during the last 18 months.... Five parliamentarians from the opposition party Front for Democracy in Burundi (Fro | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | | More on the general amnesty of the early 1990s, and other events that helped precipitate Burundi's decade-long war | | 2007-12-06 10:57:00 | | From: http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3ae6a9fc3c.htmlAmnesty International Report 1994 - Burundi [looking at the events of 1993]The newly elected President and other leading figures were brutally killed by soldiers who tried to seize power in October. This sparked off widespread intercommunal violence and political killings in which tens of thousands of people, including children, were killed and hundreds of thousands became refugees. Many of the victims were executed extrajudicially by the army. Earlier, there were arrests of suspected government opponents in the first half of the year, and others were brought to trial, some being sentenced after apparently unfair trials. However, all those still held were among some 500 political prisoners who were released as part of a general amnesty in September. Those freed also included 91 political prisoners sentenced after unfair trials in 1992. There were no executions: all death sentences were commuted under the September amnesty which also, however, gave immunity from prosecution to perpetrators of past human rights violations.In February Burundi acceded to the UN Convention against Torture.At the start of the year a multi-party electoral process began, raising hopes of an end to massive human rights violations which had been committed during 28 years of one-party military rule. However, there were violent incidents between supporters of the then ruling party, the Union pour le progrès national (UPRONA), Union for National Progress, and the main opposition party, the Front pour la démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), Front for Democracy in Burundi. In January the Minister of the Interior threatened to ban FRODEBU, accusing it of inciting violence and being a front for the banned Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu (PALIPEHUTU), Hutu People's Liberation Party.President Pierre Buyoya, a member of the minority Tutsi ethnic group which dominates the armed forces, was defeated in presidential elections on 1 June. He had | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
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| Burundi's victims want justice - An open letter to the Sacramento Bee | | 2007-12-01 00:30:00 | | Dear Sir/Madam,As someone who has been personally affected by the conflict in Burundi, I found it ironic that Robert Krueger’s argument for "Truth and Reconciliation" was premised on a such a grotesque distortion of the facts.Mr. Krueger’s claim that “Burundi has already seen too much retributive justice without the UN adding more” is bizarre and misleading. If by “retributive justice” Mr. Krueger means the prosecution, under fair and impartial international standards, of those suspected of crimes against humanity, then it simply isn’t true that Burundi has seen “too much” of it. As readers can see for themselves by reading the excellent reports of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the defining feature of Burundi’s conflict has been the wholesale denial of justice to all but a handful of victims. Both groups argue compellingly that Burundi urgently needs more justice, not less of it, if peace is to be sustainable. “Retributive justice” is a derogatory term, which demonises as vengeful advocates of “retribution” those who simply seek to uphold their right, guaranteed under international law, to “an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals”. Burundi’s victims want justice, not vengeance. I would urge Robert Krueger to support them.Richard WilsonTake action - sign the petition for an end to impunity in BurundiBurundi, human rights, Current Affairs, Politics, Africa, Robert Krueger | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | International pressure can work: Drama as Burundi court acquits key figures in fictitious coup plot - Torture victims vow international legal action | | 2007-01-20 03:25:00 | | Pressure forces acquittal of Burundi coup plotters - SA Mail and GuardianPressure from the international community, NGOs and civil society led to the acquittal recently of five alleged coup plotters imprisoned in Burundi in August this year. The men were arrested and charged with plotting to overthrow the government, but the accusations were widely believed to have been fabricated by elements in the government. Well-placed sources in Burundi said the judge’s decision to acquit five of the accused was a “political decision due to international pressure.”Five of seven alleged coup plotters, including ex-president Domitien Ndayizeye, were found not guilty of plotting to overthrow the government and were released after spending the past six months in jail. “It is a positive development which was very urgently needed,” Jan van Eck, a Burundi analyst told the Mail & Guardian. Van Eck says the alleged coup plot had been “destabilising the country, creating the impression that the government was becoming undemocratic, oppressing the opposition and not honouring the election promise to apply good governance”. This is “a step in the right direction,” he added.In 2005 the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza was elected in a landslide victory in the country’s first election since the end of a civil war that destabilised the country for over a decade. Explaining the decision, the spokesperson for the supreme court, Elie Ntungwanayo, said: “The court judged that the accusations lacked foundation. [Information was] based on testimonials by Alain Mugabarabona and Tharcisse Ndayishimiye, and [we] could therefore not rely on their sole testimonials as no other proof had been found.” Mugabarabona, a former rebel leader, and Ndayishimiye, who were imprisoned on the same charges, received hefty sentences of 20 years and 15 years in prison respectively, allegedly because they had confessed to planning a coup.“Since the two accused have confessed to having | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Small sign of hope as court aquits 3 Burundi journalists | | 2007-01-03 17:17:00 | | Bujumbura - A Burundi court on Wednesday acquitted three journalists jailed last year for reporting on allegations of a coup plot in the tiny Central African nation.Serge Nibizi and Domitile Kiramvu, both of African Public radio (RPA), were arrested in November, accused of violating legislation on secret information by reporting on a coup plot case while investigations were pending.Mathias Manirakiza, director of Radio Isanganiro was detained a week later, facing charges of allowing the station to broadcast information that would breach state security.All three, whose arrests were Burundi's latest legal tussle between media and authorities, had pleaded innocent."The court has received complaints by the public prosecution but declare them unfounded," judge Francois Naraguma said."Charges of breaking media law were not established, consequently the court decides to acquit Serge Nibizi, Domitile Kiramvu and Mathias Manirakiza."In December, prosecutors had demanded a three-year jail term for the journalists.President Pierre Nkurunziza's government, which came to power in 2005 under a peace plan to end more than a decade of civil war that killed 300 000 people, has come under increased pressure over its record on democracy and freedom of expression.The suspected coup plotters, who include former President Domitien Ndayizeye, were arrested in August, accused of planning to kill Nkurunziza and seize power.Burundian law states the journalists must be freed immediately, but legal procedures are likely to delay this until Thursday. Defence lawyer, Raphael Gahungu, welcomed the ruling."The three journalists were unjustly arrested," he said. "I hope things will improve in the future so that people won't be jailed without reason. Burundi, human rights, Current Affairs, Politics, Africa | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Burundi Defence Minister blows the lid off CNDD-FDD's fraudulent coup plot allegations | | 2006-12-18 16:07:00 | | From ReutersBurundi's defence minister on Sunday broke ranks with his government to deny accusations that a former president and six accomplices, whose trial resumes this week, had plotted to bring down the administration."We have in the army a secret services bureau, I would like to assure you that we don't have any indication of the existence of a coup," Major General Germain Niyoyankana told reporters."And no elements of the army are involved in that coup plot if there is one," he added.President Pierre Nkurunziza's government has come under increasing criticism from rights' groups and western nations for its handling of the alleged plot, which some fear might plunge the tiny central African nation into conflict again.Burundi is emerging from over a decade of civil war after the 1993 assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye kicked off a brutal conflict in which more than 300,000 people were killed.Police arrested former President Domitien Ndayizeye and six others in August saying they had strong evidence they were plotting to kill Nkurunziza and seize power. The High Court had said the seven should be freed on bail, but when prosecutors protested at the decision, the court reversed its ruling.Critics say the plot was invented by the ruling party to quash dissent, but the government and prosecutors deny this.The government said last week the suspects had met with Salim Saleh, the half-brother of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Congolese dissident General Laurent Nkunda, and Rwandan army chief of staff General James Kabalebe.But Niyoyankana said he doubted the involvement of foreigners in the alleged plot."They say Burundians worked with some foreigners to plot against the government," he said, adding that there were "incoherent and unreliable" aspects to the case."It is not a good thing to involve neighbouring countries. We don't have to blame others. This problem is ours. We are the source and the end of it," he added.Former rebel leader Nkurunziza cam | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | "Burundi Youth" exposes Tutsi militia leader Deo Niyonzima over the recruitment of child soldiers and attacks against civilians | | 2006-12-12 11:32:00 | | From "Burundi Youth"At around age 15 years old, Tutsi Leaders sent me around the capital Town of Burundi, to buy grenades. I thank God that I am alive and that I never participated in any killings. Those who sent me, had said that we had to protect ourselves against the possible attack of Hutu rebels, but I later found out that some of the grenades were used to attack civilians in the capital town such as Bwiza, Buyenzi, etc, I can name people like Deo Niyonzima (of the movement for Youth resistance, Sojedem)who at the time, was part of "Freres Dominicains", of his involvement to pick grenades and distribute it to Young people, those from less privileged areas of Bujumbura (capital town), he should be brought before justice for such crimes against civilians. I then realized that this was pure criminality that I will never allow as long as I live. My message also goes to Leader of FNL-Palipehutu, who was reported to use children soldiers from age 10, I say that it is wrong and Agathon Rwasa should be brought to justice before he continues to recruit poor innocent children to his own barbaric campaign. Why was I picked? Surely, the Politicians saw Young People as an easy target to use them for intimidation to succeed in their campaign. I thank God that I am healthy and have managed to start speaking about my experience. Right now, many children and Young people may be at risk of being used as children soldiers, I am asking that we stop this ongoing abuse against children.Burundi, human rights, Current Affairs, Politics, Africa | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Burundi independent radio director "missing" after being summoned by CNDD-FDD prosecutor | | 2006-12-11 12:59:00 | | From The Independent Federation of JournalistsIFJ Calls for End of Intimidation Campaign Against Independent Journalism in Burundi The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the government of Burundi to put an end to the repression of journalists after the government has stepped up its campaign of intimidation against journalists who have issued critical reports of an attempted coup in the country. Three journalists have been jailed and four others summoned by the prosecutor in the capital city of Bujumbura in less than two weeks in relation to reporting they did about an attempted coup in the country. Corneille Nibaruta, director of radio station Bonesha FM, was summoned to the prosecutor's office on 1 December but never arrived there. He has since gone missing, colleagues said. The three imprisoned journalists will appear before the prosecutor on Wednesday. The latest wave of arrests and summons of journalists is related to reports in private media that the government arranged a coup attempt that it has claimed it foiled. On 29 November, the director of the radio station Isanganiro, Matthias Manirakiza, was jailed for allegedly "broadcasting information which could disturb public and security order". The accusation stems from a report aired on his radio station on August 29, 2006, on the imminent attack of the presidential palate and the residence of Hussein Rajabu, president of the ruling party, by elements of the police force. The IFJ first heard of the attempts to intimidate journalists after the editor-in-chief of Radio Publique Africaine (RPA), Serge Nibizi, and the journalist Domitille Kiramvu were summoned by the prosecutor on November 22 and arrested for allegedly threatening state security and broadcasting information on a case under judicial investigation. Three other journalists of RPA have been questioned and released. "This repression of independent journalism is unacceptable and we are calling on the government to put an end t | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | New blog, "Burundi Youth", gives eyewitness testimonies from the 1993 crisis | | 2006-12-02 06:44:00 | | From Désiré Katihabwa, Burundi Youth Blog"...I will never forget how I walked down to the Presidential Palace, on the morning of 21 October 1993, where President Melchior Ndadaye resided. The palace had been surrounded by obvious Military soldiers, they were drinking beers and they looked very happy.You could see where Military tanks had broken into the palace, this was terrifying to me that such things could happen in the capital of Burundi.Tutsi were rejoicing that they killed President Ndadaye, when a Neighbour of mine, whose Father had been accused of the Military plot, then said:"You shouldn't be laughing because there will be consequences in the villages where Tutsi might be killed"What my Neighbour said, became reality, he lost his Brother, who was in boarding school, in Kibimba. My Dad's sister, almost lost her life in the same school, she managed to survive the massacres. When I asked her about my friend Willy, our Neighbour's brother, she immediately remembered about him as he was a very tall Young Man and very huge, she said to me that he was the first one to be picked by the Headmaster of the school,at Kibimba school, many students were burnt alive, chopped in pieces by machetes. I did not want to know any more details, the reality of war and genocide was beginning to get deep in my heart.My friend Willy, I think was 17 years old at the time. People said that he was found reduced in pieces by machetes.The same night of 20-21 October 1993, my Dad lost many of his family, who were butchered, my Grand-Father, Dad's father, managed to hide in the river.My Family was heavily involved in the political affairs of Burundi, from Army Generals, Colonel Pascal Simbanduku, to Prime Minister Antoine Nduwayo, to those accused of the Military coup of 1993, Lieutenant Jean-Paul Kamana.During the political crisis of Burundi, many young people, both Hutu and Tutsi, were used and manipulated, I can testify as Political Party Leaders tried to seduce my mind to join mi | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Amnesty International condemns Burundi press repression | | 2006-11-30 07:54:00 | | AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement AI Index: AFR 16/022/2006 (Public) News Service No: 307 30 November 2006 Burundi: Freedom of expression under attack once more Amnesty International is concerned at reports of the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mathias Manirakiza, the Director of Isanganiro, a private radio station in Burundi, on 29 November. He is currently detained in Mpimba Central Prison in Bujumbura. Mathias Manirakiza has been charged with disturbing public order after broadcasting on 29 August 2006 information about alleged plans to attack the Office of the President, Pierre Nkurunziza, and the home of Hussein Radjabu, the President of the National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy (Conseil national pour la Défense de la Démocratie - Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD-FDD ). Amnesty International believes that the charges against Mathia Manirakiza are an unwarranted restriction on his freedom of expression. As there has been no disturbance of public order since Radio Isanganiro made its broadcast in August 2006, the charges against Mathias Manirakiza do not seem necessary for the protection of public order. Amnesty International is also concerned that the arrest and detention of Mathias Manirakiza may be the latest move in an ongoing strategy by the government to repress freedom of expression in Burundi. The government has repeatedly harassed and intimidated journalists throughout 2006, with an escalation in attacks on freedom of expression in the past week. Serge Nibizi and Domitile Kiramvu, journalists for Radio Publique Africaine, were arrested on 22 November 2006 and charged with threatening state security and violating judicial secrecy. The two journalists commented on a story published in a pro-government newspaper about a plot to overthrow the government in August 2006. Two other journalists, Christelle Ruvari and Bob Rugurika also received a summ | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Burundi government intensifies attack on press freedom - third radio journalist illegally detained | | 2006-11-30 02:40:00 | | From The Committe to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists demands that three radio journalists jailed in Burundi in the past week, including Matthias Manirakiza detained today, be released immediately.“This looks more and more like a campaign to silence respected independent broadcasters who have spearheaded investigative reporting on human rights abuses and corruption,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “We call on the government of Burundi to release Matthias Manirakiza and two journalists from Radio Publique Africaine immediately and unconditionally.” Manirakiza, director of Radio Isanganiro, was held over a story alleging a plan to stage an attack on the presidential palace. On November 22, editor Serge Nibizi and journalist Domitile Kiramvu of Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) were imprisoned on charges of threatening state security. Two days later, five independent radio stations organized a one-day media blackout to protest their imprisonment.Manirakiza was sent to the central prison in the capital Bujumbura after police questioned him about a story broadcast in August. It was not clear whether he had been charged. The report cited police sources as saying authorities planned to stage fake attacks on the homes of top officials to bolster their claims of a coup plot. Several top opposition leaders, including the former president, are currently on trial for alleged participation in the plot. Agence France-Presse quoted Manirakiza’s lawyer Raphael Gahungu as saying that his client was jailed for allegedly “authorizing the broadcast of information threatening to state and public security.”“Manirakiza’s fate had been determined beforehand," Gahungu also told AFP. "It was evident from the number of police officers sent here.” Radio Isanganiro is backed by the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization Search for Common Ground. Radio Publique Africaine’s director Alexis Sinduhije won an International Press Freedom Award from | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | UN condemns "endemic" sexual violence, torture and killings in Burundi, calls for justice | | 2006-11-28 12:31:00 | | From ReutersBUJUMBURA, 27 November (IRIN) - Human-rights violations have continued in Burundi, despite a new democratically elected government, according to a senior United Nations official in the country.Sexual violence is commonplace, while arbitrary killings, arrests and torture are also happening, according to Ismael Diallo, the director of the human-rights division of the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB)."The human-rights situation has really not improved since the previous government; it has more or less remained the same, except for abuses by the intelligence services, which have become noticeably worse," Diallo said.Burundi is emerging from 13 years of civil strife during which human rights were regularly abused. The current government swept to power in a landslide election in August 2005 pledging to restore order.Diallo noted that abuses by Burundi's national intelligence service, the Service National de Renseignement (SNR), had grown significantly worse over the past few months, with its agents carrying out arbitrary arrests and torturing detainees suspected of being allied to Burundi's last active rebel group, the Forces nationales de libération.Bodies foundIn an October report, an international watchdog, Human Rights Watch (HRW), accused the SNR of torture and possible involvement in extrajudicial killings that it said went unpunished."Intelligence agents are believed to have been involved in the killing or presumed killing of at least 38 people over the past year," the report said. "Thirty-one people are currently missing and presumed dead in Muyinga [province in the north] with several bodies and body parts having been found in a local river."HRW said that in July, people in Muyinga told human-rights organisations that family members had been arrested and could not be found. At least seven bodies were recovered from the region's River Ruvubu. However, Burundi's government spokesman and minister of information, Ramadhan Karenga, told IRIN the HRW rep | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | Burundi government makes renewed promise on war crimes tribunal... | | 2006-11-14 06:04:00 | | With regard to the Gatumba massacre, the delegation said the State had issued a report which concluded that members of the Palipehutu FNL had been found guilty of these crimes. Now that there had been a ceasefire signed with this group, these cases were pending and would be looked at when a tribunal for war crimes was established. http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/en/2006/11/10/L018.htm...but serious doubts remain about the seriousness of this commitment:More than a year after the CNDD-FDD party came to power in Bujumbura, negotiations between the Burundian government and the UN on the creation of semi-international legal institutions have come to a standstill. The criminal proceedings mechanism envisaged by the United Nations has been rejected by the new government, which is responsible for an increasing number of human rights violations. The government feels that the chief objective of the second mechanism, a truth and reconciliation commission, should henceforth be to pardon, which the UN vi | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
| | UN "peacekeeping troops" supply weapons to Hutu extremist killers in Burundi | | 2006-11-02 03:37:00 | | In an exposé that has left South Africa's defence minister, Mosiuoa Lekota, raging, South Africa's "Star" newspaper has revealed that millions of rands worth of guns, bombs, military vehicles and ammunition have been "lost" by South African peacekeeping troops in Burundi. A stash of 50 of the missing mortar bombs were found in the hands of Agathon Rwasa's Palipehutu-FNL, which has killed hundreds of civilians in recent years. Amid longstanding rumours of corrupt links between South African UN employees and the Hutu-extremist militia group, these revelations will be of little surprise to many in Burundi. Take action - Fax your MP!Take action - sign the Gatumba petitionBurundi, human rights, Current Affairs, Politics, Africa | | By: Agathon Rwasa | | |
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