INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION PLACE DU PETIT-SACONNEX 1211 GENEVA 19, SWITZERLAND |
BURUNDI
CASE N° BDI/01 - Sylvestre Mfayokurera
CASE N° BDI/26 - Nephtali Ndikumana
Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
Referring to the outline of the case of the above-mentioned parliamentarians of Burundi, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/166/16(c)R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 165th session (October 1999), Having before it the case of Mr. Gabriel Gisabwamana, an incumbent member of the National Assembly who belonged to the FRODEBU opposition party, which has been the subject of a study and report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in accordance with the Procedure for the examination and treatment by the Inter-Parliamentary Union of communications concerning violations of human rights of parliamentarians, Taking note of the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/166/16(c)-R.1), which contains a detailed outline of the case, Taking also into account information supplied by the Burundi delegation to a Committee member on the occasion of the 103rd Conference (April/May 2000), Noting that Mr. Gisabwamana was shot dead by a member of the armed forces in Bujumbura on 20 December 1999 at about 10 p.m.; the commission of inquiry set up by the Prosecutor General concluded that Mr. Gisabwamana had been killed by a member of the armed forces as he attempted to flee after a group of four persons including himself had been challenged by a military patrol; a judicial inquiry has reportedly been opened, 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 February 1995, respectively; recalling further the disappearance on 1 August 1997 of Deputy Sirahenda, who, according to eyewitness reports, was abducted by military personnel in the market town of Mutobo and taken to Mabanda camp, where he is alleged to have been extrajudicially executed, Noting further that, according to the Burundi delegation, Mr. Ndanga returned to Burundi and has resumed his parliamentary activities; that Mr. Bapfeguhita, Mr. Ndenzako and Mr. Serwenda died in exile; that Mr. Ntirandekura returned to Burundi without, however, taking up his seat; that Mr. Kubwayo, Mr. Sibomana, Mr. Murekambanze, Mr. Nduwimana, Mr. Manirambona, Mr. Ntakhomenyereye, Mr. Bucumi, Mr. Kirara and Mr. Ntimpirongrea are still in exile, Recalling that Mr. Ndikumana was found guilty in absentia on 7 March 1997 of incitement to ethnic hatred for having, in May 1994, made a statement on behalf of his party alleging massacres and ethnic cleansing of FRODEBU supporters; recalling in this connection that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions denounced alleged violations of human rights by the army in his report to the 52nd session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Recalling that, according to information supplied earlier by the President of the National Assembly, three cases were pending against Mr. Nzojibwami, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly; that he was reportedly sentenced in one case and acquitted in two others, Bearing in mind that, under the Agreement on the Political Platform of the Transition Regime and the Constitutional Act of Transition of 6 June 1998, the transitional institutions are assigned, in particular, the task of combating impunity for crimes and promoting equitable and reconciliatory justice; mindful in this connection of the resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights at its 56th session (March/April 2000) in which it requests the Government of Burundi to put an end to impunity,
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