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BURUNDI
CASE N° BDI/26 - NEPHTALI NDIKUMANA
CASE N° BDI/36 - MATHIAS BASABOSE
CASE N° BDI/37 - LÉONARD NYANGOMA
CASE N° BDI/40 - FRÉDÉRIQUE GAHIGI
CASE N° BDI/42 - PASTEUR MPAWENAYO
CASE N° BDI/43 - JEAN MARIE NDUWABIKE
CASE N° BDI/45 - ALICE NZOMUKUNDA
CASE N° BDI/46 - ZAITUNI RADJABU

Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 186th session
(Bangkok, 1 April 2010)

The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Ndikumana, Mr. Basabose, Mr. Nyangoma, Ms. Gahigi, Mr. Mpawenayo, Mr. Nduwabike, Ms. Nzomukunda and Ms. Radjabu, all serving or former members of the Parliament of Burundi, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/186/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 185th session (October 2009),

Taking into account the letter signed by both the Secretary General of the National Assembly and the Secretary General of the Senate, dated 15 January 2010, and the information provided by members of the Burundian delegation at the meeting it held with the Committee during the 122nd Assembly; also taking into account information regularly provided by various sources,

Recalling that the former and incumbentparliamentarians concerned were the target of apparently coordinated grenade attacks perpetrated on 19 August 2007 and 6 March 2008, and that only in the case of the attack on Ms. Nzomukunda's house was a suspect arrested, namely the driver of the motorcycle from which the grenade was thrown; in late March 2008, the police issued a communiqué stating that the investigation was progressing and that its conclusions would be made public in the ensuing days; according to information provided by the Speaker in October 2008, the investigation into the grenade attacks had passed the stage of the police investigation and was with the public prosecutor, who was preparing the submission of the case to court; however, in November 2008, the Attorney General informed the Director of the IPU's Democracy Division that the initial investigations had been mishandled, having focused on the victims themselves as instigators of these attacks; this lead was soon abandoned but, having started off on the wrong premise, the case had become complicated, making it very difficult to identify the perpetrators of these attacks, which was why he believed that the case would be dismissed; in April 2009, the Burundian delegation to the 120th IPU Assembly reported that the cases were not ready to be presented in court as the investigation had yet to be completed by the prosecutor's office,

Considering that in their letter the Secretaries General of the National Assembly and the Senate state that the Parliament of Burundi has been following this case with great interest, and refer to the meeting held between the Director of the IPU Division for the Promotion of Democracy and the Attorney General during the former's mission to Burundi in November 2008,

Considering that, according to members of the Burundian delegation to the 122nd IPU Assembly at the hearing with the Committee, investigations like this often take too long but what is most important is that the Burundian authorities are acting in good faith,

Considering furthermore that, according to the source, the person who threw the grenade at Ms. Nzomukunda's house and was captured by the public was later released by the authorities,

Considering finally that presidential and parliamentary elections are to take place in Burundi in June and July 2010,

  1. Thanks the parliamentary authorities and the Burundian delegation for their stated interest in the cases at hand;

  2. Is deeply concerned that the competent authorities did not decide to investigate and prosecute the only suspect, who was caught in flagrante delicto; can but consider that this, along with the original focus of the investigation and the lack of any results thus far, cast serious doubts on the authorities' willingness to dispense justice in this case;

  3. Recalls that impunity only serves to encourage the repetition of crime and thereby undermines the rule of law and human rights, and that Burundi, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is bound to uphold the fundamental rights enshrined therein, including the right to life and security, and is therefore obliged to dispense justice by identifying and punishing those guilty of any attack on a person's life and security, and to take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of threatened persons;

  4. Considers that this is all the more important in view of the forthcoming elections and election campaign, which may carry the risk of increased violence;

  5. Urges the authorities, as is their duty, to conduct a diligent and thorough investigation into the attacks and to examine all possible leads; reiterates its wish to be informed of recent steps taken in the investigation and of any results obtained; also wishes to ascertain why the suspect in the case of Ms. Nzomukunda was released;

  6. Requests the Secretary General to inform the competent authorities of this resolution, inviting them once more to provide information on the current status of the investigations in question;

  7. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 123rd IPU Assembly (October 2010).
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