BURUNDI

CASE N° BDI/01 - Sylvestre Mfayokurera
CASE N° BDI/05 - Innocent Ndikumana
CASE N° BDI/06 - Gérard Gahungu
CASE N° BDI/07 - Bibiane Ntamutumba
CASE N° BDI/29 - Paul Sirahenda

CASE N° BDI/02 - N. Ndihokubwayo CASE N° BDI/03 - L. Ntibayazi CASE N° BDI/08 - A. Nahindavyi Ndanga CASE N° BDI/09 - I. Kubwayo CASE N° BDI/11 - I. Bapfeguhita CASE N° BDI/12 - P. Nizigire CASE N° BDI/13 - P. Burarame CASE N° BDI/14 - S. Biyombera CASE N° BDI/15 - J. Ndenzako CASE N° BDI/16 - D. Serwenda CASE N° BDI/17 - A. Ntirandekura CASE N° BDI/18 - D. Bigirimana

CASE N° BDI/19 - T. Sibomana CASE N° BDI/20 - T. Bukuru CASE N° BDI/21 - S. Murekambanze CASE N° BDI/22 - G. Nduwimana CASE N° BDI/23 - C. Manirambona CASE N° BDI/24 - S. Ntakhomenyereye CASE N° BDI/25 - D. Ngarukirinka CASE N° BDI/27 - N. Ntahomukiye CASE N° BDI/28 - C. Bucumi CASE N° BDI/30 - A. Kirara CASE N° BDI/31 - J.-P. Ntimpirongrea

CASE N° BDI/26 - Nephtali Ndikumana
CASE N° BDI/33 - Augustin Nzojibwami

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 164th session (Brussels, 16 April 1999)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/164/13(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 163rd session (September 1998) concerning the case of the above-mentioned parliamentarians,

Taking account of the information supplied by the President of the National Assembly at the hearing held on the occasion of the 101st Inter-Parliamentary Conference (Brussels, April 1999),

Recalling that Mr. Mfayokurera, Mr. Ndikumana, Mr. Gahungu and Ms. Ntamutumba, all of whom were elected in 1993 on a FRODEBU ticket, were assassinated on 20 August 1994, 16 December 1995 and in April and May 1996, respectively; also recalling the failed attempts on the lives of Mr. Ndihokubwayo and Mr. Ntibayazi in September 1994 and September 1995, respectively; recalling further the " disappearance " of Deputy Sirahenda on 1 August 1997 who, according to eyewitness reports, was abducted by military personnel in the market town of Mutobo and taken to Mabanda camp, where he was reportedly extrajudicially executed,

Considering that, according to the President of the National Assembly, the file on Mr. Mfayokurera was shelved for want of evidence and that the suspect was released; that the file on Mr. Ndikumana (RMPG 1548/Si) was pending before the Criminal Chamber of the Bujumbura Court and would be heard publicly for the first time on 5 May 1999; that, however, the accused was at large; that the file on Mr. Gahungu (RMPG 1378/NT.T) was still pending and would soon be heard in open court,

Recalling that, according to information supplied by the Minister of Human Rights on 26 March 1998, the investigations into the murder of Ms. Ntamutumba have not permitted identification of the attackers, so that the case has been provisionally shelved,

Recalling also that in the case of Mr. Ndihokubwayo the attackers were arrested but later released by the judge,

Considering that, according to the " Agreement on the Political Platform of the Transition Regime " and the " Constitutional Act of Transition " of 6 June 1998, the transitional institutions are in particular entrusted with combating impunity for crimes and promoting equitable and reconciliatory justice; mindful in this connection of the recommendation made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burundi in his report to the 53rd session of the General Assembly (A/53/490) emphasising " the imperative need to formulate adequate strategies for ending impunity ... ",

Considering that, according to the President of the National Assembly, three charges are still pending against Mr. Nzojibwami, who has been elected second Vice-President of the National Assembly: one offence relating to Mr. Nzojibwami's statements on the BBC, the second to a military uprising in the province of which he was the Governor at that time and of which he was reportedly aware, and the third to the election of a person in exile, Mr. Minani, to the presidency of FRODEBU at its Congress in 1997,

Recalling that, in January 1997, Mr. Nzojibwami denounced on the BBC the policy of forced regrouping of the population in what he called concentration camps; recalling in this connection the recommendation made at that time by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burundi (A/52/505) and by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1997/150) to demolish and dismantle the regroupment camps,

Recalling that Mr. Nephtali Ndikumana, who has been in exile since August 1996, was reportedly found guilty in absentia on 7 March 1997 of incitement to ethnic hatred for having, in May 1994, made a statement alleging massacres and ethnic cleansing of those who had been and were supporting FRODEBU; that he made it on behalf of the FRODEBU parliamentary group, whose Vice-President he was at the time; considering that, according to the President of the National Assembly, he has not yet been sentenced and that the case is to be heard shortly,

Recalling also that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, in his report to the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, denounced grave violations of the right to life reportedly committed by the army in the period mentioned in the above FRODEBU statement,

Recalling that, in the wake of the military coup d'Etat of July 1996, many FRODEBU MPs went into exile for fear of their lives; considering that as part of the negotiations concerning the establishment of the transition regime, representations were initially made with a view to repatriation of the parliamentarians in exile, some of whom have indeed returned; that, however, as the President of the National Assembly stated at the hearing held at the Brussels Conference, it had also been agreed that those who failed to return by the stipulated deadline would be replaced by their substitutes; consequently, those who return now will be placed on the list of substitutes,

1. Thanks the President of the National Assembly for his co-operation and the information he supplied; regrets, however, that the Minister for Human Rights, Institutional Reform and Relations with the National Assembly has not replied to the requests for information addressed to him;
2. Deeply regrets that to date the investigations into the assassination of the MPs concerned has been unavailing, and urges the competent authorities to make every effort, in conformity with their commitment to combat impunity, to identify and bring to justice those responsible for the murders and attempts on the lives of the MPs concerned, in particular when eyewitness testimony is available and, as in the case of Mr. Ndihokubwayo, the culprits are known since they had formerly been arrested;
3. Remains concerned at the prosecution of Mr. Nzojibwami and Mr. Ndikumana, whose statements - particularly in view of the subject-matter of United Nations documents regarding the human rights situation in Burundi - are undoubtedly covered by their freedom of speech;
4. Regrets that the MPs still in exile will be ranked as substitutes in the event of their return;
5. Stresses once again that a more marked effort to combat impunity, one of the priorities of the transition regime, would most clearly reflect the resolve of the authorities to restore the rule of law;
6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the competent authorities and to maintain contact with the United Nations bodies and commissions dealing with the human rights situation in Burundi;
7. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining the case and report to it at its next session (October 1999).

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