Will AU deploy force to Burundi to stop killings?

“Africa will not allow genocide to take place on its soil.” This was the message sent out during the 565th meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the African Union’s (AU’s) standing decision-making body responsible for the maintenance of continental peace and security, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday. Midway through the session, the PSC’s official twitter page indicated that PSC members were exchanging views on the situation in Burundi and “the urgent need for action to stop the killings” there. As is the norm, in accordance with the PSC rules, the Burundi government representative was escorted out of the room before PSC members continued exchanging views on the situation in Burundi. Again, just like during the mid November 557th meeting of the PSC, representatives of the Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) – one of the five regional forces for peace support operations (PSOs) of the African Standby Force – were represented in the meeting. EASF officials presented their updates “on the state of contingency planning for possible deployment to Burundi”. El-Ghassim Wane, the Director of the Peace and Security Department of the African Union Commission, briefed members on contingency plans by the Commission for deployment of an African force in Burundi. “Africa will NOT allow another Genocide to take place on its soil: PSC Members reiterate,” reads one of the PSC tweets. “A very clear message coming out of the ongoing PSC meeting: the killings in Burundi must stop immediately,” tweeted Amb. Smail Chergui, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security. What remained unclear by press time, however, is whether the AU will eventually give EASF, the green light to deploy. “Communiqué on Burundi will be issued as soon as finalised,” read another PSC tweet at the end of the 565th Meeting, its last scheduled meeting in 2015. The regional force, which announced its deployment readiness last year, is one of the options for a peacekeeping force the international community is considering for deployment in Burundi. End of last year, EASF announced its readiness for deployment to respond swiftly to the security challenges in the Eastern Africa region as it wrapped up its last major joint exercise in Adama, Ethiopia. Member states – Rwanda, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda – have pledged all the required 5,200 troops. The situation in Burundi is deteriorating. Various sources say between 100 and 200 people found dead in the capital Bujumbura, on Saturday, a day after the government said an unidentified group had carried out coordinated attacks on three military installations. Violent protests began in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza seek another third term in office. More than 200,000 Burundians have since taken refuge in neighboring countries – including Rwanda – which is now home to more than 70,000 refugees. Meanwhile, U.N.’s top human rights body opened an urgent special session on Thursday on the rising violence in Burundi, with the U.S. leading a diplomatic push aimed at deploying experts to investigate abuses. New U.N. figures say at least 400 people have been killed since April 26, and nearly 3,500 arrested in the political crisis. Last month, UN officials were reportedly drawing up plans, including rushing UN peacekeepers from the DR Congo to Burundi, or deploying a regional force under the AU, if the violence spiraled out of control. An AU fact-finding mission sent to Burundi, from December 7 to 13, reported that the situation of violence there was of great concern. The four-member delegation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, received reports of ongoing human rights violations and other abuses; including arbitrary killings and targeted assassinations, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, suspension and closure of some civil society organisations and the media, among others. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Will AU deploy force to Burundi to stop killings?