BURUNDI SENATE AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY REVEAL DOCKET

UNCLAS BUJUMBURA 000711 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/C ADDIS FOR REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM PREF PTER KNNP ECPS MNUC PARM, SENV, BY SUBJECT: BURUNDI SENATE AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY REVEAL DOCKET FOR NEW SESSIONS REF: BUJUMBURA 556 ¶1. In ceremonial openings on October 1, the Burundi Senate and National Assembly announced they will consider 33 bills in their upcoming sessions. Of the 33 bills to be considered, only 1 of the bills differs from the last docket. The other bills have been in limbo for several months due to a stalemate in the National Assembly (reftel). The president of the Senate expressed his strong desire to accomplish more this session than in previous ones. ¶2. The docket can be broken down into a few different categories, with two notable highlights. The first of these highlights is a bill for an improved criminal code, including anti-Trafficking-in-Persons measures. The second notable law under consideration is the new one on the docket, a law that provides for severe penalties for organizations or individuals that finance or launder money for terrorist organizations. ¶3. Other bills to be considered: an improved finance and investment code, a law on Asylum and Refugee Protection, demarcation of certain communes and National Parks, government procedures for public offerings, and ratification of several multilateral treaties and conventions to which Burundi is a party. Among the conventions to be considered for ratification are: -- Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and their Destruction -- International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism -- Universal Postal Union Act -- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty -- protocol accords for the establishment of the Center for Excellence to Manage Regional Catastrophes -- Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals -- African Charter for Human and Peoples' Rights -- Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, Which May Be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects -- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety -- Convention on the Prohibition of Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Antipersonnel Mines and their Destruction. CASEBEER