The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
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/174/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 173rd session (October 2003),
Taking account of the information provided by one of the sources on 14 January and 15 April 2004,
Recalling that the persons concerned, elected in 1993 on a FRODEBU ticket, were assassinated and only in one case, that of Mr. Gisabwamana, have the culprits been identified, tried and sentenced,
Recalling that on 6 April 2003 a six-member parliamentary group was set up by the Transitional National Assembly to work in close cooperation with the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Minister of Human Rights, Institutional Reform and Relations with the Transitional National Assembly to ensure that the investigations into the murder of the MPs concerned are reopened and these crimes are fully elucidated; the group started its work in June 2003, meeting with the Prosecutor General and the Minister of Human Rights and delivering its first report to the National Transitional Assembly’s President in July 2003;
Considering that the working group enjoys the cooperation of the Government which was set up in December 2003 as a result of the peace agreement signed in October 2003 between the then government and the main rebel movement,
Considering that one of the suspects in the murder of Mr. Sylvestre Mfayokurera was arrested shortly after committing another crime; he is detained at Mpimba Central Prison and was sentenced to life imprisonment; however, he has not as yet disclosed the names of those who masterminded Mr. Mfayokurera's murder; considering further that two of the presumed suspects in the murder of Mr. Innocent Ndikumana Mr. Ivan Bigendako and Mr. Désiré Banuma have returned from Rwanda, to which they had fled, and are in hiding in Burundi; the police are searching for them,
Noting finally that, once all hostilities have ceased, the United Nations international inquiry commission provided for by the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement will be set up, followed by the “Truth and National Reconciliation Commission”, for which a law has already been adopted,
- Notes with satisfaction that the parliamentary working group set up to look into the cases in question enjoys the cooperation of the competent authorities, and that its work has already yielded results;
Is confident that the efforts of the group to ensure that justice is done will also produce results in the cases of the other MPs concerned, and wishes to be kept informed of its work and the results obtained;
Wishes to ascertain whether the recently arrested suspect in Mr. Mfayokurera's murder has been sentenced for the crime he committed shortly before being arrested or for the murder of Mr. Mfayokurera;
Reaffirms that respect for the rights of the victims of human rights violations to truth, justice and reparation is an essential element in peace processes; earnestly hopes therefore that the international inquiry commission and the “Truth and National Reconciliation Commission” can start their work soon;
Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authorities and to inform relevant international organisations of its work on this case;
Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 111th Assembly (September-October 2004).
HUMAN RIGHTS