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GENEVA / BURUNDI HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
TRT: 2:26
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 SEPTEMBER 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, Human Rights room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Christof Heyns, Independent Expert on the Situation in Burundi:
“Like the African Commission on People’s and Human Rights of the African Union who also conducted an on the ground investigation and issued a report a few months ahead of us, we found ample evidence of large scale and systematic violations on a range of human rights that will be detailed further by my colleagues. States carry the primary responsibility to respect, protect and ensure human rights to all individuals within their jurisdiction.”
4. Med shot, Burundi delegation
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Christof Heyns, Independent Expert on the Situation in Burundi:
“Given the country’s history, the danger of the crime of genocide looms large. We do not report and we do not predict genocide, we simply say that the crisis is far from over, instead it has deepened and the responsibility to address this crisis rest with the Government of Burundi, the people of Burundi, with the East-African community, with the African Union and with the United nations. It is a collective responsibility that we all need to discharge.”
6. Med shot, podium
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Maya Sahli Fadel, Independent Expert on the Situation in Burundi:
"The State Security Apparatus, the National Police of Burundi (PNB), the intelligence service (SNR) and the National Defence Force (FDN) and the youth group of the ruling party (the Imbonerakure) were responsible for serious violations of human rights. "
8. Wideshot, delegates at Human Rights Room
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Maya Sahli Fadel, Independent Expert on the Situation in Burundi:
"The crisis was marked by arbitrary or illegal arrests and mass detentions, both in the capital and in border provinces, forces disappearances, large scale executions by the security forces and Imbonerakure, targeted killings, torture and ill treatment, especially by the SNR and brutal repression of civil society, particularly human rights activists and independent media.”
10. Close up, delegate
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Martin Nivyabandi, Minister of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender of Burundi :
"The Government of Burundi would like to refute not only serious allegations but especially denounce the unprofessional methods applied in the collection of information. Burundi's Government considers it as unacceptable that a United Nations report is written solely on the basis of anonymous testimony, a content that experts don’t dare to assume due to a lack of tangible evidence. "
12. Med shot, delegates
13. Wide shot, Human Rights Council room
A report by the United Nations (UN) Independent Investigation in Burundi (UNIIB) presented at the UN human rights council describes “abundant evidence of gross human rights violations”, possibly amounting to crimes against humanity, by the government of Burundi and people associated with it.”
Christof Heyns, Independent Expert on the Situation in Burundi told the council today (27 Sep) in Geneva that “like the African Commission on People’s and Human Rights of the African Union who also conducted an on the ground investigation and issued a report a few months ahead of us, we found ample evidence of large scale and systematic violations on a range of human rights that will be detailed further by my colleagues. States carry the primary responsibility to respect, protect and ensure human rights to all individuals within their jurisdiction.”
Looking at the country’s past, Heyns stated that “given the country’s history, the danger of the crime of genocide looms large. We do not report and we do not predict genocide, we simply say that the crisis is far from over, instead it has deepened and the responsibility to address this crisis rest with the Government of Burundi, the people of Burundi, with the East-African community, with the African Union and with the United nations. It is a collective responsibility that we all need to discharge.”
However, the experts are “gravely concerned about the general trend of ethnically divisive rhetoric by the Government, as well as others, which may carry a serious potential of the situation spiralling out of control, including beyond Burundi’s border.”
Executions have been committed on a large scale by the security forces, often supported by the ruling party’s youth wing known as the Imbonerakure. Maya Sahli Fadel, Independent Expert on the Situation in Burundi said that “the State Security Apparatus, the National Police of Burundi (PNB), the intelligence service (SNR) and the National Defence Force (FDN) and the youth group of the ruling party (the Imbonerakure) were responsible for serious violations of human rights. "
Investigators say they have conducted 227 interviews and received 57 written submissions. The UN investigation team also identified a pattern of sexual and gender-based violence, including numerous reports of sexual violence against women and girls trying to flee the country.
Enforced disappearances have been another common feature of the crisis, Maya Sahli Fadel says, quoting the report. "The crisis was marked by arbitrary or illegal arrests and mass detentions, both in the capital and in border provinces, forces disappearances, large scale executions by the security forces and Imbonerakure, targeted killings, torture and ill treatment, especially by the SNR and brutal repression of civil society, particularly human rights activists and independent media.”
The government in Bujumbura today denied all the allegations at the Human Rights Council. Martin Nivyabandi, Minister of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender of Burundi said that "the government of Burundi would like to refute not only serious allegations but especially denounce the unprofessional methods applied in the collection of information. Burundi's government considers it as unacceptable that a United Nations report is written solely on the basis of anonymous testimony, a content that experts don’t dare to assume due to a lack of tangible evidence. "
