Burundi issues arrest warrants for activists, opposition over violence

Arrest warrants have been issued against people responsible for organising and financing the violence that has rocked Burundi since a failed coup in May, the country’s Attorney-General Valentine Bagorikunda has said.

According to Mr Bagorikunda, a report by a commission of inquiry investigating the violence, will form the basis for prosecuting those found responsible.

The commission recently submitted its report to the AG, accusing a host of civil society leaders, heads of opposition political parties and some politicians of instigating the conflict, which has escalated to eliminating key figures from both sides of the divide.

“We opened investigations on April 29 into those who organised the protests, which were mainly spearheaded by some opposition parties, some media organisations and private individuals,” said Mr Bagorikunda.

The Attorney General said that those mentioned in the report were behind the attacks on security forces and a series of grenade explosions. However, he said the government does not yet have enough evidence linking civil society leaders to a conspiracy with rebels to oust President Pierre Nkurunziza.

READ: Bujumbura now scene of random attacks

“There is not enough evidence that the organisers of protests communicated with the coup plotters, who also involved some media houses operating in the country,” said the AG.

But the report notes: “It appears that there is a close link between the organisers of these alleged events [protests] and the planners of the aborted putsch of May 13, 2015.”

According to the report, Cyril Ndayirukiye, who is alleged to have been the second-in-command among the coup plotters, was in constant contact with Pacifique Ninahazwe, a prominent civil society leader, to “prepare the ground for those who will overthrow state institutions.”

Independent private media are also accused of working with the rebel soldiers because they “relayed their message [of overthrowing the president] with zeal.”

The list of those accused of financing and organising the conflict is dominated by opposition and civil society leaders. These leaders are also accused of destroying property worth $33 million.

They are also accused of preventing civilians from enjoying their rights, murder of civilians, including police and military officers and abductions.

“Insurgents have kidnapped many people they mistakenly accused of being Imbonerakure or Interahamwe [militia],” the report says.

“Many people were found dead in neighbourhoods besieged by the insurgency. It is unacceptable to think that this insurrection was peaceful as some organisers say.”

Opposition parties MSD, Union for Peace and Development (UPD), and Frodebu, including civil society leaders like Pierre Claver Mbonimpa and Pacifique Ninahazwe, are accused of organising and financing the revolt.
Others named in the report include politicians such as Charles Nditije, Dr Jean Minani, and Peggy Kagwire and Alexis Sinduhije — whose party MSD is accused of taking charge of organising the uprising.

However, Agathon Rwasa, who initially opposed the president’s third term but later joined the government as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, has not been mentioned in the inquiry.

READ: Instability, divided masses, Nkurunziza’s biggest tests

But former presidents Sylvestre Ndayizeye and Pierre Buyoya — who have been vocal in opposing President Nkurunziza — were mentioned in the report in connection with helping organise “illegal protests” without permission from authorities.

The opposition, on the other hand, says the government, has failed to protect their members who have been arrested, tortured and even murdered in different parts of the country.

“To date, no one has been arrested for the murder of our leader Zed Feruzi,” said Pasteur Mpawenayo from the Union for Peace and Development (UPD).

Mr Feruzi was shot dead alongside his bodyguard while driving in the capital on May 23, forcing talks between the government and the opposition to be suspended for days.

On September 8, UPD suffered another setback when its spokesperson, Patrice Gahungu, was assassinated in Bujumbura. Analysts say these deaths were part of targeted killings by radical elements from both sides.

Top opposition and government officials have been casualties in this silent war led by well-armed groups, but both sides to the conflict say they are not linked to groups behind the attacks.

President Nkurunziza’s most trusted general, Adolphe Nshimirimana, was assassinated in a rocket attack on his car by people said to be in military fatigue.

“Some people tried to create divisions within the army but fortunately it didn’t happen,” Defence minister Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye said. “In Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana’s assassination, there was some confusion because they used a military car.”

Opposition killings

Two days after the death of the general, seen as a key pillar of the regime, there was an attempt on the life of human-rights Pierre Claver Mbonimpa. Mr Mbonimpa, currently recuperating in Brussels, was shot in the face by a gunman riding a motorbike in Bujumbura. None of these killings has been investigated.

The latest attempt was on Burundi’s army Chief of Staff Gen Prime Niyongabo, who escaped an attack that left seven people dead, including some soldiers who were in a bus on their way to their station.

While the government’s search for justice could be seen as one-sided, the International Criminal Court has already warned that it is monitoring events in the country closely.

If violence escalates, all indications are that ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will launch investigations that will most likely target some officials in the regime.

Rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have already written extensive reports on rights abuses by security forces in the country; the intelligence service has been accused of detaining and torturing people opposed to the president.

More than 200,000 Burundians have fled to neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo since April when the conflict broke out.

“We now have to return back to the country because the children have to go to school… we have to work,” said Gloriose Ntakarutimana, a refugee at the Kanyaru Burundi-Rwanda border.

“The life outside home I can’t describe it.”

OP The East African