UN Human Rights Council thanks Rwanda for facilitating Burundi Inquiry Team
DOUDOU DIÈNE, President of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi
The United Nation’s Human Rights Council has conveyed its thanks to Rwanda and four other countries for allowing UN investigators to carry out missions on their territory.
Addressing the Thirty-ninth session of Human Rights Council on Monday during an Interactive Dialogue on Burundi, Doudou Diène, President of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi conveyed gratitude to Rwanda, Belgium, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania for facilitating its staff to carry out missions on their territory.
Doudou explained “Since this date, our investigations have allowed us to collect more than 400 testimony from victims and/or witnesses of human rights violations in neighbouring countries of Burundi, as well as remotely from Burundians still residing in the country.”
He further emphasized that the Commission “would like to convey our thanks to Belgium, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania for allowing us to carry out missions on their territory.
We also appreciated our meetings, in particular with commissioners, at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.”
Introducing the final report to the 39th Council of the commission, he regretted the decision of the Burundian Government to declare its members as personae non gratae and said that in the course of the implementation of the second term of the mandate, the Commission had collected more than 400 testimonies from victims and/or witnesses of human rights violations, in addition to the 500 interviews conducted during the mandate’s first year.
The Commission was therefore able to confirm the persistence of serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture and cruel and inhumane treatment, sexual violence, and violations of civil liberties, in particular freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and movement.
