European Parliament resolution on the situation in Burundi
Date: 1999-11-18
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Burundi, civilian victim, ethnic conflict, forced migration, political situation

C 189/238

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

7.7.2000

Thursday 18 November 1999

Calls on the Russian authorities to dismiss the charges against Alexandr Nikitin based on secret retro-

3.
active decrees;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Government of

4.
Russia, the Council of Europe and the Bellona Foundation.

11. Burundi

B5-0267, 0285, 0293 and 0301/1999

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Burundi

The European Parliament,

’ having regard to its earlier resolutions on the situation in Burundi,

A. whereas an internal conflict has been raging in Burundi since 1993, in which more than 200 000
people have been killed and over 800 000 people displaced, the majority of them facing famine and
disease,

B. whereas the conflict entered a new stage in May 1999 as the different militia groups intensified their
military activities in several parts of the country as well as the capital Bujumbura, to which the army
responded with clearing operations and further regrouping of people in so-called protected camps in a
controversial attempt to separate the civilian population from the rebels,

C.

appalled by the recent massacre of a large number of civilians in Bujumbura and the murder of nine
people, including a representative of Unicef and a WFP official, in the province of Rutana, in south-
east Burundi,

D. whereas on 25 October 1999 the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burundi drew attention
to the current human rights disaster in that country, in particular the mass summary executions com-
mitted by both militias and sectors of the army, illegal arrests, torture and unacceptable prison condi-
tions,

E. whereas efforts to bring stability to the region must be based on justice and the prosecution of those

responsible for the ethnic violence,

F. whereas peace talks on Burundi have been under way in neighbouring Tanzania, but have so far failed

to reach a comprehensive agreement,

G.

expressing concern at the difficulties ’ due mainly to the absence of security ’ which most humani-
tarian organisations are experiencing in bringing aid to the people in need;

Condemns the acts of violence committed against civilians and the murder of nine civilians, including

1.
a representative of Unicef and a WFP official, in the province of Rutana, in south-east Burundi;

Calls for an independent inquiry into the assassination of UN aid workers and Burundian civilians in

2.
the refugee camp in southern Burundi;

Urges the Burundian authorities to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the population
3.
and to comply with the guidelines laid down by the UN special rapporteur in order to improve the appal-
ling human rights situation in the country;

4.
Calls on all parties to the conflict to engage in and conclude the peace process so that the EU can
actively assist, together with other international agencies, in bringing about peace and stability in Burundi;

7.7.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 189/239

Thursday 18 November 1999

5.
Asks all the warring parties to show respect for fundamental human rights and to ensure that the
humanitarian organisations have direct, unrestricted access to the places where there are refugees and dis-
placed persons;

Calls on the government of Burundi to permit the deployment of UN and/or OAU military observers

6.
for the protection of aid workers and the implementation of humanitarian aid;

7.
Re-emphasises the importance of holding, under UN and OAU auspices, an international conference
on peace, security and stability in the Great Lakes Region, to be attended by all the governments in the
region;

Insists that the neighbouring countries continue to support the peace process in Burundi by ensuring

8.
that their territory is not used in any way to threaten the security of the Burundian people;

9.
Reiterates its call for an international embargo on the export of arms and munitions to Burundi and
the Great Lakes Region as a whole, and calls on the Council and the Member States to honour the under-
takings entered into as regards controlling arms exports to the region and preventing the illegal sale of
such arms and the trafficking used to fund such activities;

Calls on the international community, and the EU in particular, to step up humanitarian aid to

10.
those in danger, displaced persons and Burundian refugees;

11.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and Council, the governments
of the Member States and Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, the United
Nations, the WFP, Unicef and the OAU.

12. Rwanda

B5-0276, 0294 and 0300/1999

European Parliament resolution on the situation in the Great Lakes Region with special reference
to Rwanda

The European Parliament,

’ recalling its earlier resolutions on the situation in Rwanda,

A. whereas on 3 November 1999 the appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court for Rwanda
decided to release Jean Bosco Barayagwiza on a technicality, despite the fact that he was charged with
six genocide-related crimes,

B. whereas Mr Barayagwiza was a senior official for a Rwandan hate radio which openly incited the

slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the country,

C. whereas the Rwandan Government responded by suspending its cooperation with the International
Criminal Court in Arusha and postponing indefinitely the visit to the country by the Chief Prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court, Mrs Carla del Ponte,

D. whereas the suspension of Rwanda’s cooperation will seriously affect the Court’s ability to conduct its

trials, since most of the witnesses come from Rwanda,

E. whereas the work of the International Court in general has been characterised by excessive delays and
extremely slow investigations and proceedings, due among other things to a serious shortage of pro-
secutors and judges, which has resulted in the Court completing only four trials since it was estab-
lished five years ago,

F. whereas the International Court must establish the truth about the genocide which took place in
Rwanda in 1994 and must bring the instigators and perpetrators of the massacres to justice, so as to
put an end to the current climate of impunity;