Public statement Posté le 26-05-2021 13:46, modifié le 26-05-2021 13:46 par Tournons la Page
Tournons La Page Burundi and its members released a report taking stock of the democratic processes in Burundi.
In 2015, after a ten-year period of relative peace, punctuated of course by occasional tensions and violence, a major crisis was triggered by the controversial third term of office of the late Pierre NKURUNZIZA.
This crisis did not appear in a cloudless sky. On the contrary, it took place against a backdrop of serious human rights violations, bad governance characterized by systemic corruption and predation, and above all by a clear political will to consign to oblivion the letter and spirit of the Arusha Agreement that put an end to the civil war.
The violence and repression unleashed by the then government to quell the protesters plunged the country into a state of lawlessness, resulting in numerous deaths, torture and prisoners of conscience, as well as hundreds of thousands of refugees.
The changeover to a new head of state, which occurred after the unexpected death of Pierre Nkurunziza, raised some hopes of an opening. These hopes were quickly dashed by the practices of the regime, its radical rhetoric and the appointment of many senior officers, including hardliners, to all the country's institutions. The new President was totally in line with the continuity, and even beyond, by proceeding to a decomplex militarization of power.
All this places Burundi in a political, social, cultural and economic impasse, dragging it inexorably down.
In light of the above and based on a substantiated report, TLP Burundi urges the Burundian authorities:
- To open the political space to all parties and to stop the fragmentation of existing parties,
- Facilitate the implementation of the Arucha Agreement
- Burundian courts to guarantee the right to a fair trial and to refrain from illegal arrests, detentions and imprisonment; the issuance of frivolous arrest warrants; the illegal seizure of property belonging to persons considered to be political opponents; the protection of criminals acting in the name of the state; the endorsement of political decisions
- Involve the youth, both in the country and in exile, in all decision-making processes
Read the summary of the report here.
