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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

BURUNDI: Amnesty International urges deployment of ceasefire monitors

NAIROBI, 6 February 2003 (IRIN) - Signatories to a ceasefire agreement between the transitional government of Burundi and the Conseil National pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie should take immediate action to prevent human rights abuses by their forces as the African Union (AU) prepares to send ceasefire monitoring troops to the country, according to Amnesty International (AI).

AI said on Wednesday that the AU should ensure that the ceasefire monitoring force had the mandate and the resources to protect human rights. It also urged the AU and the parties to the ceasefire agreement (signed in December 2002) to cooperate in investigating abuses, and to ensure that those suspected of being responsible were brought to justice.

"The ceasefire agreement will mean virtually nothing to ordinary Burundians if the pattern of human rights abuses persists or even escalates," the human rights group said.

Thirty-five observers are due in Burundi "imminently", to be followed by a larger monitoring force, according to AI. "The deployment of the international observation force is a key component of the ceasefire agreement. It is a step eagerly awaited by some, feared or resisted by others - and not least because of the immediacy it gives to the ultra-sensitive question of reform of the government armed forces," AI said.

President Pierre Buyoya on Monday called for an African peacekeeping force to help resolve the civil war in the tiny Central African state. He told reporters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that he welcomed the AU's decision in January to deploy a military mission to oversee ceasefires signed by his government and rebel groups.

Troops from Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Africa are expected to be sent until a UN peacekeeping force replaces them. Buyoya was in Addis Ababa for the first AU summit that ended on Monday, a day ahead of schedule.

The civil war in Burundi broke out in 1993 after soldiers from the minority Tutsi-dominated army killed the first democratically Hutu president. Hutu rebels continue to reject a ceasefire and have intensified their attacks since the new government was installed in November 2001.

"Amnesty International believes that it is essential for the mandate of the AU force to explicitly include human rights protection and prevention. The force must be given adequate resources, appropriate training and the political support to exercise this mandate, including comprehensive public reporting on human rights abuses," the statement read.

Themes: (IRIN) Human Rights

[ENDS]

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