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UN's presence in Burundi may increase as president engages in dialogue

Xinhua, December 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations may finally have an opening to increase its presence in Burundi, after Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza recently engaged in dialogue with the UN.

United States Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of December, Tuesday said at a press conference here that the dialogue came after a long period of the Burundian government reducing the UN presence in the country.

"At just the time you would wish to see more eyes and ears on the ground, more monitoring, the UN presence was getting drawn down because of the government of Burundi's desire to see it drawn down," said Power. "So we think it is very important that (UN Special Adviser Jamal) Benomar has been able to establish a dialogue now with President Nkurunziza that there is a willingness to see the UN increase its presence."

However, Power also noted that in addition to the UN's reduced role in Burundi, African Union observers have also not been able to access the country.

"As the situation in Burundi has deteriorated, the UN role itself has diminished so it's exactly the wrong trajectory that one would wish to see," she said.

"It's been now many months since the African Union authorized the deployment of 100 human rights observers, that has not happened at least according to African Union sources," said Power.

Commenting on recent United States sanctions against Burundi, Power said in her national capacity that these were both against individuals in the government who had orchestrated violence against citizens as well as those who had taken up violence against the government.

"Nobody should be under any illusions whatever issues one may have with the way in which President Nkurunziza has proceeded over the course of the last year -- against the very specific two-term limit in the Arusha agreement -- there is no excuse for violence and for targeted assassinations," she said.

The security situation in Burundi has deteriorated significantly since April when President Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term, exceeding the country's two-term limit. More than 240 people died after his controversial re-election in July sparked mass protests, and more than 200,000 Burundians have fled to neighboring countries. Enditem