Security Council calls for end to violence in Burundi

While welcoming progress in Burundi’s emergence from a 12-year civil war, the Security Council today called for the immediate end to hostilities and human rights abuses that it said continue to be committed by both rebels and Government forces.

“The Security Council is deeply concerned by the continuing violence carried out by the Forces nationales de libération (FNL), and the fighting between them and the Burundian army, by the human rights abuses committed by both sides, as well as by factors of instability remaining in the region,” it said in a formal statement read out by March Council President, César Mayoral of Argentina.

The Council urged both parties to seize the opportunity for negotiations presented by the FNL leader, Agathon Rwasa, through statements that expressed his readiness for talks to end the violence.

It also encouraged the Burundian Government to work closely with the United Nations human rights monitors to bring those responsible for human abuses to justice, as it continues its reforms, “maintaining the spirit of dialogue, consensus and inclusion which made possible the success of the transition in their country.”

In his latest report, Secretary-General Kofi Annan calls for close monitoring of the impoverished country in the countdown to the planned withdrawal, by the end of this year, of the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB), which has been overseeing the implementation of the Arusha peace agreement for the past two years.

He notes that the initial tasks of the UN operation have been completed, but warns that “given the severity of the challenges facing the country…the possibility of a relapse remains strong,” and recommended altering the withdrawal time-line depending on the situation on the ground.

In today’s statement, the Security Council encouraged the international community, including relevant UN agencies, to continue to support the Burundian authorities in the long-term.