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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 11 October 2006

BURUNDI: Joint truce verification mechanism launched

BUJUMBURA, 11 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - The Joint Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JVMM), charged with overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire accord between Burundi's government and the last active rebel movement, the Forces nationales de libération (FNL), was officially launched on Wednesday in the capital, Bujumbura. FNL representatives did not attend, however.

The facilitator in the Burundi peace process, South Africa's minister of safety and security, Charles Nqakula, who launched the monitoring committee, said the JVMM would ensure the ceasefire agreement was implemented.

"It incorporates important elements with respect to the building of durable peace in Burundi," Nqakula said.

However, he regretted that FNL official had failed to attend the launch despite their having promised to send representatives. Nqakula said FNL had on Wednesday morning complained that one of their representatives on the verification committee had been detained in Bujumbura.

"They said they would not take their seat on the JVMM unless that person who they say is detained in Bujumbura is released," Nqakula said.

The mediation team had, however, reminded the FNL that there was a Joint Liaison Team under the JVMM, which would deal with the issue of all political detainees.

"You could not therefore argue that the first thing to do is to deal with the release of political prisoners outside the establishment of the joint verification and monitoring mechanism. You cannot do that," Nqakula insisted, recalling that during discussions with FNL in the past weeks, the government had conceded to other FNL demands, including the issuing of passports to the group's leaders and the proclamation of a provisional immunity for FNL leadership.

Nqakula said the mediation team would continue to talk to FNL and that it believed that the group would send their delegate to JVMM.

The JVMM comprises 24 members. Burundi's government and the FNL are represented by seven members each. Other members include one representative from the national commission in charge of the demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants, two delegates from African Union, and two from the United Nations Mission in Burundi. The regional peace initiative will be represented by three delegates from South Africa, one from Tanzania and another from Uganda.

It will first establish the joint liaison teams, tasked with the implementation of the ceasefire accord on the ground. The creation of the JVMM followed the signing of the ceasefire agreement in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 7 September.

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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006