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Tag: Pierre Nkurunziza

  • Burundi releases schoolgirls held for scribbling on President Nkurunziza’s portrait

     

    Burundi has released three schoolgirls who were detained over accusation of scribbling on President Pierre Nkurunziza’s picture in textbooks which led to international outcry.

    The three girls were the last still being held from a group of seven children arrested earlier February in Kirundo province, in Burundi’s northeast some 200 kilometers from the commercial capital Bujumbura.

    All were accused of insulting Nkurunziza by defacing his image.

    A regional court in Kirundo had decided last Wednesday to proceed with a full trial against the three.

    But Aimée Kanyana, the Minister for Justice, told state broadcaster RTNB that the girls had been given provisional release. Future cases would result in prosecutions, she said.

    She added: “We call on parents to strengthen the education of their children.

    “We remind children that they have to respect authorities, that the age of criminal responsibility is 15.“Next time, justice will clamp down on such behaviours.”

    The arrest of the schoolgirls resulted in an online campaign, with users using the social media hashtag #freeourgirls to post pictures of the President defaced with clown wigs, twirly moustaches, pointy ears and bloody fangs.

    “With so many real crimes being committed in Burundi, it’s tragic that children are the ones being prosecuted for harmless scribbles,” Human Rights Watch Central Africa Director, Lewis Mudge, wrote.

    “Members of the ruling party’s youth wing “have killed, arbitrarily arrested, abducted, beaten, raped, and intimidated real and perceived political opponents with impunity,” Mudge wrote last week.

    “Authorities should focus on holding perpetrators of serious rights violations to account instead of jailing school children for doodles.”

    READ ALSO: Unmarried couples in trouble in Burundi

    Burundi denies that its ruling party carries out systematic human rights violations.

    Nkurunziza has been in power since 2005. His decision to stand for a third term in 2015 was called illegal by the opposition, triggering protests and a failed coup.

    In 2016, 11 children were jailed on accusations of defacing photos of Nkurunziza in a textbook, and more than 300 students at a school in the capital’s Ruziba neighbourhood were expelled.

    Early this month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said Burundi had forced the UN to close its local human rights office after 23 years.

    In 2016, Burundi stopped cooperating with the UN human rights office in Burundi after UN-commissioned report accused the government and its supporters of committing crimes against humanity.

  • UN rebukes Burundi, Philippines president over threats

    UN rebukes Burundi, Philippines president over threats

    The UN human rights office on Tuesday condemned attacks and threats made against its investigators by senior Burundian officials and by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

    “On Nov 9, Duterte threatened to slap UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard if she investigates him for alleged extrajudicial killings,” human rights spokesman Rupert Covlille said.

    In April 2016, the ICC announced it had launched a “preliminary examination” of the situation in Burundi, at the time more than 430 people had reportedly been killed.

    This ongoing step, which under ICC procedures determines whether a full investigation should take place, focuses on “killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances that have been allegedly committed since April 2015.”

    In October 2016, President Pierre Nkurunziza signed legislation calling for Burundi’s withdrawal from the ICC, notification of which was later that month sent to the UN secretary-general.

    Under the Rome Statute, actual withdrawal takes place a year after such notification.

    The Burundian government rejected the commission and did not allow members to visit the country.

    Interviews were conducted in neighbouring countries, to where hundreds of thousands of Burundians have fled since 2015.

    On Sept. 1, Burundi’s parliament announced it would set up its own commission, made up of 12 lawmakers, to look into the UN commission’s findings.

    Speaking to overseas Filipino workers in Vietnam, Duterte railed, “I will slap her in front of you. Why? Because you are insulting me.

    “Why? Because you yourself do not believe in the research of your own organisation.”

    The Philippines leader’s new beef with the French UN official is that she supposedly brought in an expert who

    supposedly said on television that drugs are harmless.

    Duterte did not name this “doctor” but identified them as “itim (black).”

    NAN

  • Rwandan President warns of genocide in Burundi

    Rwandan President Paul Kagame implored neighbouring Burundi to avoid the ethnic violence that ended in genocide in his country in 1994, in an emotional speech that was shared on social media on Sunday.

    Regional and world powers have grown increasingly concerned that the security situation in Burundi could lead to civil war or mass atrocities, and that a weekend deadline for Burundians to give up weapons could spark widespread bloodshed.

    At least 200 people have died and tens of thousands have left the country after months of violence and protests since President Bueundi  declared he would seek a third term in office, which he then won in a contested vote in July, Reuters reported.

    “They should have learnt the lesson of our history,” Kagame told a gathering in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Friday, according to audio of the speech shared on social media.

    Some 800,000 people, most of them Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were massacred before rebel forces led by Kagame ended the genocide in Rwanda. Burundi is about 85 percent Hutu and 14 percent Tutsi.

    Kagame has mostly avoided talking about the unfolding political crisis in Burundi. Rwanda is currently in the process of adjusting its own presidential term limit rules, which would pave the way for Kagame to seek a third term in office.

    In the speech he was pointedly critical of Nkurunziza – a former Hutu rebel leader before he became Burundi’s first democratically elected president after its civil war. Kagame said Nkurunziza was allowing his people to die.

    “No one knows where he is, no one can talk to him. How does he lead his people? People are dying every day, dead bodies are being dragged on the streets every day,” Kagame said.

    Also on Saturday, Burundi’s minister for security, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, told a news conference the disarmament process had been launched, “with respect for human rights.”

     

  • Burundi’s Nkurunziza sworn in for third term

    Pierre Nkurunziza was sworn in as Burundi’s president on Thursday and urged tens of thousands of people who fled political violence, sparked by his disputed decision to run for a third term, to return home.

    Nkurunziza also urged armed rebels who have vowed to use force to remove him from office, to end violence which has continued since he was declared the winner of July’s vote, Reuters reported.

    Burundi’s opposition boycotted the poll, arguing, along with Western powers, that Nkurunziza was violating the constitution and provisions of a peace deal that ended a 1993-2005 civil war between the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority.

    Although months of protests and an attempted coup in May were quelled, sporadic violence and killings continue to take place in the capital and some rural districts.

    “We call on our fellow Burundians to return and join other Burundians in building their nation,” he said in a speech after the swearing in ceremony in parliament.

    The United Nations’ Human Rights office said last week at least 96 people had been killed since the start of election-related violence in April.

    The UN refugee agency said more than 181,000 people fled Burundi due to the violence.

    General Leonard Ngendakumana, a deputy to the leader of the aborted coup, said in July they were prepared to use force to oust the president.

    “We recommend they give it up or else they will face God’s judgment,” Nkurunziza said. He did not elaborate.

    Adolphe Nshimirimana, the head of the president’s security, was gunned down earlier this month and a former head of the army Jean Bikomagu was killed two weeks later, showing the violence was not yet over.

  • Burundi presidential aide killed

    A close aide of Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has been killed in an attack on his car in the capital, Bujumbura.

    Gen. Adolphe Nshimirimana was a former army chief of staff and intelligence chief, the BBC reports.

    The attackers targeted his car in the Kamenge district reportedly with machine guns and rocket launchers.

    Burundi has been racked by unrest since April, when Mr. Nkurunziza announced he would seek a third term in office.

    Opponents argued this contravened the constitution and there was a failed coup attempt in May.

    A presidential election was then held last month which Mr. Nkurunziza won, but which was boycotted by the opposition.

    Gen. Nshimirimana was reportedly in charge of the president’s personal security and had been central in cracking down on protests.

    Witnesses to the attack said four men in military fatigues sprayed the car with bullets.

    Other witnesses said rockets were also fired.

  • Burundi’s Nkurunziza elected for third term

    Burundi’s Nkurunziza elected for third term

    Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has won a third five-year term as the leader of the small east African nation, the country’s electoral commission said on Friday, after a vote marred by violence and a boycott by the opposition.

    Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, head of the electoral commission, told reporters Nkurunziza had won 69.41 percent of the votes cast. Nkrunziza’s nearest rival, Agathon Rwasa, took 18.99 percent.

    The vote took place on Tuesday, despite calls by African leaders and Western powers for it to be delayed due to rising insecurity and the boycott by opposition candidates whose names remained on the ballot paper, Reuters says.

  • Gunfire, blasts rock Burundi presidential poll

    A policeman and civilian were killed in clashes hours before the start of Burundi’s presidential elections, already hit by opposition boycotts and protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term.

    Blasts and gunfire echoed around the capital before polling stations opened on Tuesday in a nation grappling with its worst crisis since a civil war ended in 2005.

    It has faced weeks of demonstrations, a failed coup and clashes between rebel soldiers and the army, Reuters says.

    Opponents accuse Nkurunziza of violating the constitution by seeking another five years in office.

    Western donors and African states, worried about tensions in a region with a history of ethnic conflict, urged Burundi to postpone the poll.

    Nkurunziza cited a court ruling saying he can run again. The government said it had already delayed the vote as long as it could and promised a fair poll.

    Voting began in rural areas and dozens queued to cast ballots in areas of Bujumbura that are strongholds of Nkurunziza supporters. But there were only trickles of voters in other districts of the capital and some polling stations stayed closed after the official 6am start.

    Presidential adviser Willy Nyamitwe blamed opponents and those behind protests for overnight violence, saying a policeman and civilian were killed. “People do it to intimidate voters. They don’t want the voters to go to the polls,” he told Reuters.

  • U.S wants Nkurunziza to drop new term bid

    U.S wants Nkurunziza to drop new term bid

    The United States urged east African states to send high-level representatives to Burundi to reiterate their opposition to President Pierre Nkurunziza seeking a third term and to press for free and fair elections.

    State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S opposed Nkurunziza’s decision to run for another term, which was in breach of the Arusha agreement that brought an end to the country’s civil war in 2005.

    “The United States encourages high-level visits from Burundi’s neighbors to Burundi to reiterate the importance of upholding the Arusha Agreement and ensuring the conditions necessary for free, fair, and credible elections,” Reuters quoted Kirby as saying in a statement.

    Nkurunziza’s decision has triggered the worst crisis in the small African country since 2005 and raised concerns it could reignite ethnic violence. His opponents said he is violating the constitution, while supporters argued that a constitutional court ruling allows him to run.

    More than 11,000 Burundians – about one percent of the country’s population – have already fled across the border for fear violence will spread outside the capital.

    Kirby said Washington supported the outcome of a summit of African leaders in Tanzania on Sunday which called for a delay of at least a month and a half in the poll.

    The summit of the East African Community included Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, and was joined by South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma.

  • Burundi president sacks defence minister

    Burundi president sacks defence minister

    President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza, on Monday reshuffled his cabinet following a coup attempt, sacking the Minister of Defence who had indirectly criticised his bid to seek a third term in office.

    General Pontien Gaciyubwenge had encouraged the army to remain neutral during massive protests opposing Nkurunziza’s candidacy in the June 26 elections.

    He also said the army supported the spirit of the Arusha Agreement, which ended a 12-year civil war in 2005 and said presidents must not serve more than two five-year terms.

    Gaciyubwenge was replaced by Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye, a civilian, whom many see as Nkurunziza loyalist.

    Laurent Kavakure, Foreign Minister was also replaced.

    Irina Inantore was appointed successor to Commerce Minister Marie-Rose Nizigiyimana, who had been criticised over fuel shortages.

    Observers said Kavakure may have been sacked for failing to convince the international community to support the elections.

    They also noted that the sacking of the defence minister was expected to deepen the rift created in the army by last week’s coup attempt, which divided soldiers in pro- and anti-government camps.

    Nkurunziza returned to Burundi on Friday, sparking protests the next day that were quickly dispersed.

    In his first public appearance since the coup attempt, Nkurunziza warned that Burundi might be targeted by the Islamist group al-Shabaab because of national efforts to fight the militants.

    He said the country contributed 5,400 troops to African Union peace mission to help the Somali Government to fight al-Shabaab.

    Al-Shabaab in its response on Monday said the group had been falsely blamed by the Burundian president.

    Ali-Mohamud Rage, al-Shabaab spokesman, said Nkurunziza was only trying to mislead his countrymen and women and the world’s attention, so that he can continue atrocities against his own people.

    The United Nations noted that more than 105,000 Burundians have fled violence to neighbouring countries.

  • Protesters want Burundi president’s third term bid halted

    Protesters want Burundi president’s third term bid halted

    Protest organisers in Burundi on Wednesday urged African leaders meeting in Tanzania to demand that their president halt his bid for a third term, a development that has triggered the nation’s worst crisis since an ethnically-fuelled civil war ended in 2005.

    Protesters have taken to the streets for more than two weeks saying Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for another five years violates the constitution and the Arusha peace deal that ended the civil war.

    Both documents limit a president to two terms, Reuters says.

    More than 20 people have been killed since unrest erupted, according to an unofficial count by activists.

    East African leaders and a top official from continental heavyweight South Africa met in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam to discuss the crisis that has already spilled over into a region with a history of ethnic conflict.

    More than 50,000 people have fled to neighbouring states. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said the crisis was heading towards a “worst case scenario” that could see 300,000 people fleeing, some to other parts of Burundi and others abroad.

    That would mean displacing about three percent of the 10 million-strong population in one of Africa’s most crowded nations.

    “We expect the east African heads of state to tell President Nkurunziza that the constitution of Burundi and the Arusha peace agreement do not allow him to run for a third term,” Pacifique Nininahazwe, a civil society activist and protest leader, told Reuters.

    Nkurunziza, 51, who once led a rebel group from the majority Hutu population against the minority Tutsi-led army in the war, has pointed to a constitutional court ruling that said his first term did not count as he was chosen by lawmakers, not voted in.