Inter-Parliamentary Union - British Group - PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO BURUNDI 10 TO 14 SEPTEMBER 2007


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Delegation Reports

PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO BURUNDI 10 TO 14 SEPTEMBER 2007

Outward Delegation to Burundi 10 to 14 September 2007

Report by Jeremy Corbyn MP

Delegation

Jeremy Corbyn MP
Leader – Labour

Andy Love MP
Labour

Quentin Davies MP
Labour

Lord Lea of Crondall
Labour

Lord Jones of Cheltenham
Liberal Democrat

Chintan Makwana
British Group IPU Secretariat

This was a return visit following a visit to the UK in 2006 by a delegation from Burundi.
Burundi is probably the poorest country in Africa with huge problems of dislocation, instability as a result of decades of civil wars and now struggling to cope with expectations of returning refugees, demands for health care and education, a rapidly rising population and slow economic development.
We were acutely aware of the difficulties of bringing about political change in a society, indeed region, that has been wracked by the conflicts of Hutu and Tutsi peoples, and their political allies.
Burundi alone has lost around one million people in the last two decades.The last period of intense fighting in 1993 cost over 300,000 lives.
The role of the late President Nyerere of Tanzania and of Nelson Mandela in bringing the Arusha Accords to a fruitful conclusion is to be commended.
We were also aware of the environmental destruction as a result of war and poverty, but also very impressed with the vibrancy of the people in trying to rebuild society and for the country to play a part in the affairs of the region.
Our visit was at the invitation of the National Assembly and of the Senate, and a programme of meetings and visits was agreed with their help and assistance. Our activities covered the broad areas of democratic institutions, civil society, international co-operation and regional affairs.
National Assembly and Senate
The National Assembly and Senate are both elected institutions, and we were able to have long meetings with the Presidents of both and also a meeting with Ministers covering Foreign Affairs, Health, Good Governance and Justice.
The constitution developed since 1993 is still an interim one with the current President elected by the Parliamentary system although at the end of his term, popular elections will be held.
There is a current political impasse of a group of twenty-two Deputies from the Governing Party supporting the opposition thus making legislation very difficult. We were interested in the efforts at rooting out corruption, and whilst accepting many of the difficulties found it hard to accept that elected members of both the Senate and the National Assembly should enjoy immunity from any prosecution.
Whilst we understood the need for the political system to transcend ethnic divisions and to ensure that one group does not entirely dominate the political system, we were concerned that one party was trying to increase the proportion of Hutu representatives in order to, in their view, reflect the population as a whole.
In discussions with parties from both the Governing coalition and Opposition, we were also clear that the IPU help to the development of the institutions is valuable and that exchanges of staff and support would be very welcome in the future. It is essential to develop a culture of democracy.
Civil Society
We were able to have substantial meetings with the League for Human Rights and a large group of journalists to discuss issues of press freedoms.
The Human Rights activists aim is to establish rule of law and educate people on human rights issues.The League has 3,000 members who act as defenders and campaigners. They said the situation in the country was still fragile. Many people have weapons as a result of the civil war, violence against the person is common and rape is a very serious problem with many cases not reported.
Concern was expressed that the FNL has still not joined the peace process and that military activity is still continuing. Extra judicial killings are also continuing, and some never reported therefore not acted upon.
Concern was also expressed at the high incidence of mental illness, often in the form of Post Traumatic Stress that was not dealt with by any health services.
Concern at widespread arrests following the “attempted coup” has been widely expressed; UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour, during a visit in May 2007, also raised serious concerns at the progress of Human Rights improvements.
The group was represented, when able to afford the cost of travel, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The media workers we met had quite different perspectives amongst themselves. Most agreed that in comparison to other countries there is considerable press freedom but two journalists had been imprisoned and their cases supported by journalists internationally. There are only two newspapers, neither of which has a large circulation (illiteracy is commonplace). Television is a Government station, internet and computer access is inconceivable for most of the population. Radio is the most important form of communication. There are ten stations, mostly privately owned with inadequate equipment and a lack of training for both technical and journalist staff.
International Co-operation:
We had very useful meetings with DfId representatives, the EU representative and the UN co-ordinator for Burundi. We also met, at the end of the visit the representative of the UNHCR.
The UK programme is £10m in the current year and co-ordination with other donors (EU, other member states, UN and the USAID) seems to be very good.
The British programme is supportive of the good governance programme, health and education. In the latter two areas, the President recently announced a “shock tactic” of making all primary education free and of providing health care without charge to under fives and to pregnant and nursing mothers.
Burundi barely has the capacity to make either of these changes but the donor agencies have helped a great deal to introduce this.
The lack of Doctors is chronic (it is reputed that there are more Burundian Doctors in France than at home) as is the teacher shortage and their very low pay (46 dollars per month).The President has also attempted to raise public sector pay but lacks the resources to achieve this.
The EU programme is 60m Euros per year and includes some budget support in order to help achieve the “good governance” objectives.The EU will be supporting the planned census for 2008, the first for twenty years.
The UN programme in the country is enormous, ranging from World Food Programme support in providing basic needs to a whole range of development issues. The appointment of one UN co-ordinator is welcome to avoid duplication of efforts and promote efficiency.
Overall, more than half of all public spending in Rwanda comes from international agencies and this figure is likely to continue for a long time. Economic growth is developing, the actual rate is in dispute as public statistics are very unreliable. However tourism is very small and due to environmental destruction and loss of habitats wildlife as an attraction is very limited; security concerns, whilst reduced, are still real.
The multiplicity of problems or tensions in society, guns, poverty and lack of capacity in public services and Government means that support will be needed by all donor countries for a long time.
During a day visiting rural areas, we had the chance to visit one state primary school and a children’s village funded by SOS. All the children were orphans from the war or AIDS and were being given excellent care and support by very dedicated staff.
The pace of rural development was very encouraging with new planting of coffee, tea and bananas and many war wrecked homes being rebuilt with locally made materials. The country is crowded but very fertile and over the foreseeable future ought to be food sufficient.
Regional Affairs:
It is impossible to look at Burundi without relating to its neighbours or history. Independent with a royal line of succession the country was occupied by Germany after the 1884 Congress of Berlin.The Versailles Treaty of 1919 awarded an administrative mandate to Belgium.Independence was achieved in 1962, a year after the Congo.Tutsi and Hutu conflicts dominated the country as the former had been promoted by the colonists, as in Rwanda, and the latter became more powerful at independence.
The loss of life in Burundi mirrors that of Rwanda and large numbers of Burundians sought safety in Uganda and Tanzania. The continuing war and conflict in Congo heavily affects Burundi.
The Government of Burundi has joined all appropriate African regional groups but seems to be most strongly involved in the putative East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi).
However, the Congo is the country in the region with the most natural resources, energy and potential; the fighting in South Kivu has a danger of spilling over into neighbouring countries.
The return of refugees from Tanzania and Uganda needs more international support for their re-settlement to give them a chance of rebuilding their lives but also not to add an immediate burden to the already very stretched public services.