The level of violence in Burundi is of great concern and characterised by arbitrary arrests and detentions, among other ills, an African Union fact-finding mission has reported.

The four-member delegation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission), in its report says, during interactions with stakeholders, it received reports of ongoing human rights violations and other abuses, including arbitrary killings and targeted assassinations, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, arbitrary suspension and closure of some civil society organisations and the media, among others.

The delegation was in Burundi from December 7 to 13.

"Of equal concern to the delegation are also reports of people being forced to flee from their homes and continuing flow of refugees as well as social services such as schools and hospitals being seriously affected,” reads part of the report.

The fact-finding Mission of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to Burundi was carried out in accordance with the promotion and protection mandate of the Commission and pursuant to Article 45 and 58 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The delegation comprised Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of the Commission and Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa; Reine Alapini-Gansou, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa; Jamesina Essie L. King, Chairperson of the Working Group on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and Dr Solomon Ayele Dersso, Chairperson on the Working Group on Extractive Industries, the Environment and Human Rights Violations.

The objectives were to investigate all the human rights violations and other abuses in Burundi since the beginning of the crisis in April 2015; establish the causes, facts and circumstances that precipitated and constitute such violations and abuses within the framework of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as such relevant international humanitarian law rules.

It aimed to specify and qualify the human rights violations and other abuses that emerged since the beginning of the current crisis.

The Peace and Security Council of the AU is expected to propose recommendations basing on the delegation’s findings.

During its assignment, the delegation met and discussed with stakeholders from the Burundian state apparatus, civil society, media actors, members of the diplomatic corps, international organisations and humanitarian organisations.

It visited detention centres, a hospital and received testimonies from victims of the crisis.Last Friday, the eruption of major exchange of gunfire, explosions and shootings that lasted for the whole day led to the escalation of violence and human rights violations, reports said.

At least 87 people were found dead in the capital Bujumbura, on Saturday, a day after the government there said an unidentified group carried out coordinated attacks on three military installations.

The United States on Sunday ordered non-emergency US government personnel and dependents to leave Burundi and warned other Americans to get out "as soon as it is feasible to do so.”

In order to stop the escalation of violence and remove conditions leading to human rights violations and abuses, the delegation, among others, emphasises that the current crisis cannot be solved through the use of violence, and urges all state and non-state actors to put an immediate end to the ongoing violence and the human rights violations.

The delegation further calls on the Government of Burundi to ensure that all acts of violations of human rights are investigated and redressed in accordance with the standards in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as in other relevant regional and international instruments to which Burundi is a party.

Regional civil society organisations last month petitioned the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) to urgently undertake a number of actions within its mandate to contain the ongoing violence in Burundi.

They, among other things, want the House to call for the suspension of Burundi from both the EAC and the African Union (AU) should the situation there remain volatile after one month.

On November 13, an update on the situation in Burundi was the only item on the agenda when the 557th meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the AU’s standing decision-making body responsible for the maintenance of continental peace and security, convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) – one of the five regional forces for peace support operations (PSOs) of the African Standby Force – was represented in the meeting but, since then, there are no signs it might be allowed to intervene to halt the violence.

Protests in Burundi began in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would seek an eventually successful third term in office.

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