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AU says ready to send human rights observers to Burundi

Xinhua, July 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

The African Union (AU) has reiterated its readiness to immediately deploy human rights observers and military experts to Burundi.

The pan-African bloc said in a statement on Sunday that the deployment is as part of the follow-up and implementation of the relevant decisions of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC).

The statement recalled that the PSC meeting in Johannesburg on June 13 requested the immediate deployment of human rights observers and other civilian personnel to Burundi, as agreed in its communique of May 14, 2015, as well as that of military experts.

The human rights observers are responsible for monitoring the human rights situation on the ground and reporting possible violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, while the military experts are responsible for verifying, in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders, the disarmament of militias and other armed groups, according to the statement.

In response, the Government of Burundi, on July 4, requested the postponement of the deployment to any other date after July 15, when the presidential election was to be held before being eventually postponed to July 21, 2015, said the statement.

The Government of Burundi on July 8 requested that prior to the deployment, a Memorandum be signed with the Commission to define the rights and obligations of each party, according to the statement.

The Commission pointed out that, in parallel with this deployment, a process has been initiated for the recruitment of civilian staff and the generation, from AU Member States, of military experts specifically dedicated to the mission envisaged in Burundi.

The Commission emphasized that the human rights observers and military experts would work closely with the relevant Burundian institutions and all other stakeholders.

"It is understood that this collaboration shall be in full respect of the independence of the concerned personnel, which is a prerequisite for the credible and transparent discharge of their mandates as determined by the PSC." Endi