On
Burundi, ICP Asks UN Guterres
Spox of Refoulement of
Refugees in Tanzania, Buck
Passed
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
August 15 -- On Burundi,
the UN
Security
Council on August 2
adopted a Presidential
Statement
and not a
formal
resolution, upon
the expiration
of its
previous
resolution to
deploy 226 UN
Police amid what
the UN itself
calls the
threat of genocide.
The
Council's
penholder on
Burundi,
France, did
not speak at
the Council
stakeout or
take
questions, but
Inner City
Press asked UK
Ambassador
Matthew
Rycroft about
it. Video here,
transcript below.
On
August 15,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, UN
transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: the
Burundian
refugees that
are in
Tanzania, they
actually tried
to protest
UNHCR because
they say that
food has been
cut off, and,
essentially,
they're being
pushed back to
Burundi
despite their
fear.
So, again,
given António
Guterres,
his past
history, given
that he has a
Special Envoy
on it, is
there any
comment from
the
Secretariat on
what seems to
be the
refoulement of
or [inaudible]
refoulement…
Spokesman:
I don't… I
would ask you
to check with
UNHCR as to
what the
actual
situation
is. I
would highly
doubt that
UNHCR is
involved in
any active or
passive
refoulement.
Really?
On August
7, three more
corpses were
found dumped
in a river in
Cibitoke.
Silence from
UN Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres, in
the middle of
a two week
initially UNdisclosed
vacation.
Silence
from his part
time envoy
Michel Kafando.
No
answers from Guterres'
spokespeople to
Inner City
Press' questions
about the
deployment of
human
rights abusers to
peacekeeping
missions.
We'll have
more on this. From
the UK August
2 transcript:
Inner City
Press:
On Burundi, is
it your
position that
the mandate to
send the
police
remains? That
they are under
legal
requirement,
under Chapter
VII, to take
them? Why
wasn’t it just
extended to
make clear
that Chapter
VII applies to
this
deployment?
Amb Rycroft:
Yes, you are
right that the
initial
resolution
calls on this
police mission
to take place.
And you’re
right that the
reason that it
hasn’t is that
the Government
of Burundi has
made
absolutely
clear that
they have no
intention at
all of
allowing even
a small
deployment in.
So they are in
breach of that
obligation and
so we are
reminding them
of that
obligation and
encouraging
them to do
what they
should be
doing...
I think there
are other
obligations
that they are
in breach of
as well, but
this is an
important part
of their
engagement
with the
international
community and
we need to
take from it
the fact that
they are not
engaging on
this or indeed
many other
parts of that
resolution and
we call on
them to have a
genuinely
inclusive
political
process.
The
UN's lack of
vetting of
peacekeepers,
exposed by
Inner City
Press then as
credited
by the
Washington
Post as to
Burundi, has
continued
under
Secretary
General Antonio Guterres and,
at least until
now, his
deputy Amina J.
Mohammed, see
below. Now the
UN of
refugee-centric
Guterres
stands by as
Burundi
refugees in
Tanzania are
pressured to
return to
danger. A visit
to the Nduta
camp was conducted,
including
Mkapa team member
and Nkurunziza
supporter Ken
Vitisia,
regarding whom
Inner City
Press has
previously
reported. While
awaiting a
promised
"communique"
from Mkapa's
team, and the
upcoming UN
Security
Council
meeting, how
will Guterres'
Secretariat,
and his
part-time
envoy Michel
Kafando,
react?
They have yet
to on Mayuyu.
On July
21, the UN
Peacebuilding
configuration
on Burundi met
in Conference
Room 6, with speakers
ranging from
Tanzania to
France and the
Netherlands.
The
Dutch urged
the Security
Council to
take action -
they share a
seat with
Italy - while
the US made
reference to
media
freedom, if
not to Jean
Bigirimana. Belgium
emphasized
that it has
kept up
80% of its aid
to Burundi.
France
waffled; they
are the UN
Security Council
penholder but
did
little to get
the 226
mandated UN
Police
deployed. The
UN has been tellingly
quiet on attacks
on the press.
From Reporters
Without
Borders: "On
the eve of the
first
anniversary of
reporter Jean
Bigirimana’s
disappearance,
Reporters
Without
Borders (RSF)
calls on the
Burundian
authorities to
release the
findings of
the
investigation
they promised
last August
and to do
everything
possible to
establish what
happened to
this
journalist. A
reporter for
the
independent
news website
Iwacu,
Bigirimana
left his home
in Bujumbura
on the morning
of July 22
2016 to meet a
contact in
Bugarama, a
small locality
about 45 km to
the east in
Muramvya
province. He
told his wife
he would be
back for
lunch. She
never saw him
again.
Bigirimana
arrived in
Muramvya,
where several
witnesses say
they saw him
being arrested
by members of
the National
Intelligence
Service (SNR).
Policemen in
Muramvya told
friends of
Bigirimana
that they saw
him being
thrown, bound,
into the back
of a vehicle
containing the
chief of the
SNR’s Muramvya
office. The
SNR initially
acknowledging
holding
Bigirimana but
later
retracted." On
July 18,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan Haq, UN
transcript here: Inner
City Press:
Burundian
refugees in
Tanzania in
this camp
called Naduda
were visited
by members of
[Benjamin]
Mkapa's team,
mediator's
team, and some
ambassadors to
Burundi from
Tanzania and
Kenya. Many
of the
refugees have
raised
questions that
they were
basically
being
encouraged to
return to the
country, which
they see as
unsafe.
Was there any
involvement by
Michel Kafando
as a UN
mediator?
Is he aware of
this
trip?
And what does
the
Secretary-General,
with his
interest in
refugees, does
he believe
this is a
propitious
time to tell
Burundian
refugees in
neighboring
countries to
return?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Obviously, our
position on
all refugees
is that they
can only
return to
countries when
they feel the
conditions are
safe to allow
them to do
so. As
you know, we
abide by the
idea that all
countries
should observe
the principle
of
non-refoulement,
and that's
where we stand
on that.
I'm not aware
of any role
that Mr.
Kafando had in
this.
On
July 7
Mohammed told
the UN's
Chiefs of
Defense to
only "send us
personnel with
spotless
backgrounds."
Video here, belated
Note below. But
will she
accept the UN
allowing
Burundi's
Colonel
Mayuyu, which
the UN itself
repatriated
for abuse, to
be sent out to
act on
civilians in
Somalia, in
the UN
supported AMISOM? It will be a
test - one
failed
so far on
ongoing
censorship of
the Press. On
July 9, after
Inner City Press
published its
story
on the Chiefs
of Defense,
the UN Spokesperson
emailed out a
Note including
that "The UN
Deputy-Secretary
General closed
the conference
by thanking
the Chiefs of
Defence [and] called
on Chiefs to
deploy
personnel with
spotless
backgrounds
and to pursue
accountability." In
the interim,
this photo
of the son of
Burundi's
Pierre
Nkurunziza
with abuser
Desire
Uwamahoro.
Spotless? Ten
days after
Inner City
Press asked Guterres'
holdover
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
about UN
"pre-deployment"
training
for
Major
Gahomera, linked to the
12/12
massacre in Burundi,
there has been
no answer. Now it
emerges that
one of the
Burundian
officers that after
Inner City Press
inquiries in
2016 was
repatriated
from the UN
mission in the
Central
African
Republic,
Colonel
Mayuyu, is being
sent back out
again by Burundi,
to the UN-supported
mission in
Somalia.
Photographs here;
September 16,
2016 Vine video
still here.
On July
6, Inner City
Press asked
Dujarric about
it, video here, UN transcript here: Inner
City Press:
I had asked
you maybe
about 10 days
ago about this
Mr. Gahomera
of the
Burundian
military
getting
training, but
you'd said
from this very
podium back in
September
[2016] there
was Alfred
Mayuyu, if the
name rings any
bells… he's
now being
redeployed.
He was
repatriated by
the UN from
the Central
Africa
Republic due
to his
military
history.
And he has now
showed up on a
list that's
been published
to be deployed
to AMISOM,
which is a
UN-supported
peacekeeping
mission.
So, I wanted
to know… I
guess I'm
relating the
two of them in
saying: what
is the UN's
role in making
sure that
people it
repatriates
with credible
evidence of
abuse don't
simply go--
Spokesman:
I think that's
a question
first and
foremost to be
addressed to
AMISOM.
Inner
City Press:
I've also seen
this document
and Mr.
Gahomera who I
think is going
to go to
AMISOM, but
it's a joint
UN-AU
predeployment
training.
So, the UN's
role is not
just
financial.
Isn't that an
opportunity
for the UN to
vet abusers?
Spokesman:
I think as I
said, that's a
question first
and foremost
for AMISOM.
Failure. That
Michel Kafando
was being
pushed as
(part-time) UN
envoy on - but not
in -
Burundi
was first
reported by
Inner City
Press on April
20. Even
as the UN
Secretary General
Antonio
Guterres'
holdover
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
refused
to answer
Inner City
Press'
question if
Kafando had begun his
"When Actually
Employed"
work, Inner
City Press learned, and
the UN then
confirmed, that
Kafando came to
New York - then
left on June
7. Now on June
26 UN "Pre-deployment"
training will
be given to Burundi
military
figures
including
Major Marius
Gahomera,
accused of
killing seven
youths as part
of the 12/12
massacre. How
can
the UN
continue to do
no
(effective)
due diligence?
On June 27, Inner
City Press
asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
this and
another case, video here, UN transcript here: Inner
City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you about
Burundi.
On this
issue of
vetting that
it was said a
lot that
vetting is
taking place,
there's a
controversy
now in Burundi
that one Major
Gahomera, who
was charged
with being
part of the
12/12
massacre, is
being trained
as we speak
today part of
a UN
pre-deployment
training in
Bujumbura.
And the
documents have
been made
public.
So, they're
wondering, what
vetting takes
place?
Spokesman:
I'm happy if
you give me
the… give me
the name,
email me the
name and I
will have…
Inner
City Press:
Gahomera.
And there's
one other one
that's
related.
It appears
that one of
the
individuals
repatriated
from Central
African
Republic
facing [Office
of Internal
Oversight
Services]
charges of
sexual abuse
there, a Mr.…
a Major
Sergeant
Zepherin [sic]
has just been
redeployed to
AMISOM, is it
your
understanding
that --
Spokesman:
I don't have
access to
these
individual
cases.
What is clear
is, if anyone
is alleged to
have committed
sexual abuse,
they need to
face
justice.
But, I will
face… I will
look at these
two individual
cases.
Thank you.
As
of July 5,
nothing. And
as Inner City
Press alluded
to on July 5,
another
dubious (re)
deployment is
looming:
Mayuyu.
On July 5,
Inner City
Press asked
Dujarric, UN
Transcript
here:
Inner City
Press:
And on
Burundi, I
just wanted to
ask you, the
President of
the Security
Council, Liu
Jieyi, had
said there's a
meeting on… on
Burundi, and
it's a little
unclear to me
whether it's
only about the
resolution
that was to
send the
police.
It's almost a
year or it's
about to
expire.
So, I wanted
to know, I
know there
will be a
meeting that
day, but does
the
Secretary-General
think that
those police
are still
needed and
should be deployed?
Spokesman:
The
Secretary-General's
reports
outline his
position.
Guterres has
left New York
again. On
June 20, Inner
City Press
asked French
Ambassador
Delattre, as
transcribed by
the French
mission: Inner
City Press:
What about the
deployment of
the police? Is
that your goal
to actually
see this
deployed?
Delattre: C’était
en effet un
élément
important de
la résolution
2303 dont nous
souhaitons
bien sûr la
mise en œuvre.
Cette
composante de
police, et de
manière
générale la
présence
renforcée sur
le terrain de
la communauté
internationale,
constitue de
notre point de
vue un élément
important pour
à la fois
donner à la
communauté
internationale
des yeux et
des oreilles
et pour lui
donner aussi
un levier
vis-à-vis de
nos objectifs
prioritaires
que sont un
meilleur
respect des
droits de
l’Homme,
l’engagement
d’un dialogue
politique
réellement
inclusif et le
respect de
l’esprit et de
la lettre des
Accords
d’Arusha, qui
doit plus que
jamais être la
boussole des
différents
acteurs
concernés.
Periscope
video here.
And here
is Burundi PR
Shingiro's
speech, also
in French. Inner
City Press on
June 19 asked
Ninette
Kelley,
Director of
the United
Nations High
Commissioner
for Refugees
(UNHCR) New
York Office about
UNHCR's
annual Global
Trends report
saying
refugees from
Burundi have
increased
39%, and IDPs
increased
four-fold.
Should the UN
be scaling
back to a part
time envoy,
the mandated
UN Policy not
deployed?
Video here,
from 7:25. On
UNHCR's stated
concern about
naturalized
former
Burundian refugees
in Tanzania,
she said
UNHCRC would
revert. Kafando
and Guterres,
in Central
Asia for a
week, have
said nothing
about the most
recent examples
of hate
speech by the
ruling party's
youth wing /
militia.
Burundi's Ambassador
Albert
Shingiro, last
seen at
Australia's
June 8 event
promoting the Aussie
candidacy
for the UN
Human Rights
Council,
complete with
wet bar
and wire fish
sculptures,
will presumably be
present on
June 20 - as
will Inner
City Press.
On May
30, Guterres
was
set to meet
Kafando at
11:30 am, with
video of imbonerakure
militia hate training
online.
What would
Guterres and
Kafando say
about it?
Inner City
Press at the
May 30 noon
briefing asked,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: I
noticed that
the
Secretary-General's
meeting with Michel
Kafando today,
and I wanted
to ask, there are
reports of the
ruling party
militia in
Burundi
training
children to
denounce opponents
as lice... And
I wanted to
know,does
either Mr.
Guterres or
Mr. Kafando
have a
response to
this?
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric:
We stand
clearly
against hate
speech.
This is the
first occasion
for Mr.
Kafando to
meet with the
Secretary-General
in his new
role.
He's also
having other…
whole series
of other
meetings at
headquarters.
And if we have
more to share,
we will.
Seven hours
later, nothing.
The
mediation is
in shambles:
William Mkapa
has said his
documents were
leaked by the
EAC Secretariat
of Liberat
Mfumukeko to
his /
Nkurunziza's
Burundian
government.
And Mfumukeko
has
been accused,
by an inquiry
of most of the
EAC, of
misusing EAC
funded for
disproportionate
travel to Burundi and
otherwise.
(Mfumukeko says since
Burundi did not
participate in
the review it is
not an official
EAC
investigation).
We'll have
more on this.
On
May 23, Inner
City Press
asked the UN
about it,
transcript here:
Inner City
Press: on
Burundi, I'd
asked you
before whether
Mr. [Michel]
Kafando had
started yet,
and I didn't
understand the
answer.
Has he
started?
Is it true
that he'll be
coming to New
York next
week?
And does the
Secretariat or
DPA
[Department of
Political
Affairs]
intend to
comply with
the timeline
and file a
written report
with the
Security
Council about
Burundi in
June?
Spokesman:
As a matter of
policy, we… we
do our best to
follow the
instructions
and mandate
given to us by
the Security
Council.
It is my
understanding
that he will
be here next
week to meet
with officials
in DPA.
And so he'll
be here next
week.
Inner
City Press:
And can you
ask DPA
whether
they've agreed
not to file a
written
report?
Spokesman:
I think that
was my first
answer.
Extremely
troubling,
sources still
tell Inner
City Press
that the UN's
Department
of Political
Affairs has agreed
with France
to simply drop
the
requirement of
a written
report in June
to the Security
Council about
Burundi, including
human rights.
"They are
selling out,"
as one soure
put it. Tout
est a vendre.
After
repeated
no-comments,
UN spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric on
May 5
confirmed the
appointment.
Inner City
Press
immediately
asked, is it
part-time?
Yes: transcript
below. He's
had nothing to
say about the
dubious
pro-Nkurunziza
outcome of the
"inter-Burundian
dialogue." On
May 18, when
Inner City
Press asked
Dujarric about Musaga,
he wouldn't
even say if
Kafando has
begun work and
is being
paid. From
the UN transcript:
Inner City
Press:
In Burundi,
there's been
grenade
attacks
followed by
mass arrests
in this Musaga
neighborhood,
which is one
of the most
involved in
protests
against the
Government.
So,
particularly,
given the mass
arrests, I'm
just
wondering… I'd
asked you
before a
couple of
Burundi
questions… has
Mr. [Michel]
Kafando begun
his work yet,
and if so,
what does he
say about
these
developments?
Spokesman:
I don't have
an update on
Burundi, but
I'll see what
I can get for
you.
Five hours
later, like
clockwork, Dujarric
left having
provided no information
- except a
veiled
threat /
denunciation
of publishing
leaks.
What
will Kafando
say about William
Mkapa going
along with
Nkurunziza's
arrest
warrants
against his
opponents, problematizing any
trip to
Entebbe in
Uganda? On May
16, Inner City
Press asked
the UN's
holdover
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, UN
transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: about
Burundi.
There's two
things have
happened.
One, the
intra-Burundian
dialogue is
over with a
move to now
amend the
Constitution.
Some people
say it would
allow now for
a fourth term
for Pierre
Nkurunziza.
And also, a
group of the
opposition
members have
written to… to
Mr. [Benjamin]
Mkapa very
upset that
he's asked
them to sign a
legal waiver
to go to the
next round of
talks, which
would
basically,
they think,
allow them to
be arrested on
what they call
trumped-up
arrest charges
by Nkurunziza,
the same issue
that took
place in
Tanzania.
So, I wanted
to know, do
you… either
does the
Secretary-General's
Office have a
comment on
this or his
new part-time
envoy, Mr.
[Michel]
Kafando…?
Spokesman:
I don't have
anything on
Burundi today.
And six
hours later as
he left,
nothing. From
today's
letter: "we
were surprised
to find that
the invitation
to the session
scheduled from
24 to 25
May 2017
contains
several
clauses that
exclude civil
society
leaders. In
effect, it is not
normal for the
facilitator's
team to
request some
associations
to nominate representatives
who are not
under arrest
warrants... The
organizations
concerned*
urge the
Facilitator
and the
Mediator in
person to
address the
situation and
remove all
ambiguities
and guarantee
the effective
inclusiveness
and security
of the
participants
in the
dialogue
session
dedicated to
civil society
in exile in Entebbe
as well as the
future
sessions."
Inner
City Press asked UN
Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres'
spokesman
Stephane Dujarric
if when
Guterres met
Yoweri
Museveni he
even brought
up Burundi.
No, was the
answer. What
happened to
"preventative
diplomacy"?
What happened
to the UN
Security
Council's
resolution to send
226 UN Police
to Burundi? When
Security
Council member
Sweden's
Permanent Representative
Olof Skoog
entered the
Council on May
8 and Inner
City Press
asked him
about Kafando
being
part-time,
Skoog
expressed
surprise,
saying "I
think this is
a full time job."
UNTV boom mic
video,
put on YouTube
by Inner City
Press, here.
So did
the UN
Secretariat (and penholder
France) not tell
Security Council
members this
important
information
about the When
Actually Employed
envoy to
Burundi, a
country where
the UN says
there is a risk
of genocide?
* The
signers: 1.
ABR, Sé
Patrick
Nduwimana,
President 2.
ACAT, Sé
Maitre Armel
Niyongere,
President 3.
APRODH, Sé
Pierre Claver
Mbonimpa,
President 4.
FOCODE, Sé
Pacifique
Nininahazwe,
President 5
.FORSC, Sé
Maitre Vital
Nshimirimana,
President 6.
OPB, Sé
Innocent
Muhozi,
President
On
May 9, Inner
City Press
asked Secretary
General
Antonio Guterres'
holdover
spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, UN
transcript here.
The Pierre Nkurunziza
government's Ambassador
to the UN Albert
Shingiro
insists that
Kafando was
not named Special
Envoy on
Burundi but
Special Envoy "in
general who
Guterres could
send to
Burundi or
elsewhere."
Photo of
Shingiro's
tweet here.
This is
a new low, on
which we'll
have more.
From the May 5
transcript.
After
publishing the
exclusive, on
April 21 Inner
City Press
asked
French
Ambassador to
the UN
Francois
Delattre about it.
He smiled
and said
"bonne
question."
Then Inner
City Press
asked the UN's
holdover
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, who
refused
to comment.
From the UN transcript:
Inner
City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you on
Burundi.
Inner City
Press has
reported and I
believe has
some
confirmation
from the
French Mission
that there is
a proposal by
France and
possibly the
EU for an UN
envoy to
Burundi,
specifically
Burundi only,
not conflict
prevention:
Michel
Kafando, the
former
transitional
President of
Burkina Faso,
and I wanted
to know from
you whether
the
Secretary-General
has discussed
this proposal
with the
proponents and
if he thinks
given the
urgency of the
situation if
it’s a good
idea and what
the next steps
would be?
Spokesman:
I have no
comments on
that.
But later on
April 21 a UN
official told
Inner City
Press that
Burundi's
Pierre
Nkurunziza has
approved it.
Another
diplomat told
Inner City
Press that
Burundi's
Ambassador
Albert Shingiro
was summoned
to the UN
Department of
Political
Affairs. We'll
have more on
this. The
UN has sunk so
low that the
lead spokesman
for Secretary
General Antonio
Guterres
Stephane
Dujarric on
April 10
refused to
even take a
Press question
about Burundi,
where the UN
itself says
there is a
risk of
genocide. When
Inner City
Press said
"Can I ask a
question about
Burundi,"
where there
increased hate
speech
amid a warning
from other
parts of the
UN of a threat
of genocide,"
Dujarric
replied, "No,
we're done." Video here, contrasted.
More
here.
***
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