BURUNDI: Approval of temporary immunity law sparks heated debate

BUJUMBURA, 3 September 2003 (IRIN) - Human rights groups, civil society organisations and opposition political parties have protested a new law granting temporary immunity to political leaders who returned from exile and are taking part in transitional government institutions in Burundi. The immunity law, which was approved by the National Assembly on 27 August, states: "The temporary immunity covers crimes with a political aim committed from 1 July 1962 (Burundi's independence) to the date of its promulgation (27 August 2003)". The law is valid during the transitional period and does not deal with crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. During the period of immunity, no political leader who returned from exile can be arrested or charged for such crimes committed with a political objective. When parliament approved the law last week, a group of 28 MPs led by Cyrille Sigejeje boycotted the vote, calling themselves "a coalition of MPs against genocide". "The United Nations and the international community have worked together in Sierra Leone, Liberia and our neighbour, Rwanda, to chase criminals, [but] in Burundi, criminals receive amnesty," Sigejeje said. "It is unbelievable! Reconciliation is not possible when criminals are not sentenced." Ligue Iteka, the country's largest human rights organisation, denounced the law, saying it had always opposed such a measure. "Ligue Iteka never accepted the immunity law, which contradicts the Arusha accord for peace and reconciliation," Pie Ntakarutimana, the group's president, told IRIN on Wednesday. "We will soon issue a statement denouncing the law, because, for us, it is an acceptance of impunity. We will also seize this occasion to ask the government and the parliament to ratify the law on the creation of the International Criminal Court." For his part, Prof Venant Bamboneyeho, head of human rights NGO SONERA and the anti-genocide association "AC Genocide Cirimoso", said that in adopting the law, the parliament betrayed the people of Burundi. "We demand that the National Assembly admit it made a mistake, that it acted against the interests of Burundian people," Bamboneyeho said. "We call upon civil society and all forces for peace to come together to refuse the implementation of a law that has never been approved by any country in the world." Meanwhile, opposition political party Sangwe-Pader has called the law discriminatory because it grants amnesty for those "who planned the crimes" while those who executed the orders remain in custody. "I am asking myself how legislators are going to explain this law to the population, this is a game played by [political parties] Frodebu and Uprona," Thomas Bukuru, an MP and spokesman of Sangwe-Pader, said. "On one side, the parliament has voted for a law repressing genocide, and when we talk about genocide, Hutu politicians immediately feel targeted with regard to the massacres of 1993 that followed the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye, during which many Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed, and Frodebu was brought to power," he said. "On the other side, Uprona, which is predominantly Tutsi, wants to please Frodebu. [Uprona] accepted to vote for the immunity law, because when we talk about the coup of 1993, which claimed the life of President Ndadaye, Tutsis feel concerned. So the two parties have set up a kind of auto-amnesty," he added.