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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.
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