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From 23-24 June 2016, ALN Central Africa Vice President, Medard Mulangala, will be participating at the Liberal International Human Rights Committee Network of Liberal Parliamentarians on Human Rights meeting in Geneva at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The opportunity will be used to highlight the Burundi crisis.
The political and humanitarian situation in Burundi is dire, with ongoing violence and attacks against the most helpless citizens. The ALN has received reports that over 300,000 people have fled the country. In addition, abuse, rape and other atrocities have been committed against Burundian women and girls. Former Burundi Vice President, Alice Nzomukunda, advises that the armed militia of President Nkurunziza carries out gross human rights abuses with the false pretext of seeking out armed rebels.
Even children attending school are not safe. Learners have been arrested for scribbling on a picture of Nkurunziza which depicts him alongside Burundi’s two past kings, King Mwambutsa and King Ntare; these children have reported been sentenced. Whilst still at school, the children are forced to wear green, the colour of prisoners (as depicted below).
Further obsessed with power and the desire to remain Burundi’s leader, Nkurunziza has flared the political crisis into an humanitarian one. He has further done so by attempting to ignite tensions between Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, even by means of dividing the composition of the military along ethnic lines. This all continues to take place whilst President Nkurunziza plans to hold a referendum which would remove presidential term limits from the Constitution, thus allowing him to rule for as long as wishes.
The ALN maintains the need for sanctions against Nkurunziza’s regime and calls for inclusive dialogue, with the participation of the opposition grouping, CNARED. Peacekeeping forces of the African Union are also needed in order to further prevent the country from spiraling into anarchy as well as to monitor and report on the humanitarian situation. The ALN continues to call on the international community to monitor the crises in Burundi and prevent what some have referred to as genocide on the doorstep of the country.
