BURUNDI: UN FIELD COVERAGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUJUMBURA 000060 LONDON, PARIS, PLEASE PASS TO AF WATCHERS; DEPT FOR IO/RHS AMY OSTERMEIER AND GAYATARI PATEL, DRL/MLGA CHRIS SIBILLA, AND IO/PSC DEBORAH ODELL E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM USUN BY SUBJECT: BURUNDI: UN FIELD COVERAGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REF: A. STATE 2023 ¶B. BUJUMBURA 37 Classified By: Ambassador P.Moller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The UN's Human Rights operation in Burundi consists of two administratively separate but operationally integrated missions: the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) and United Nations Integrated Bureau in Burundi (BINUB). Forty UN human rights employees are headquartered in the capital Bujumbura, and five field offices, staffed by eight to ten employees each, provide coverage for monitoring and training in the interior of the country. The UN's human rights team has been very successful in monitoring and publishing human rights violations, communicating with security forces and the diplomatic community, and focusing its attention on high-profile court cases and political detainees. The UN is still faced with the challenge of advocating for a National Independent Human Rights Commission, establishing a politically-sensitive Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and speaking with a unified voice across UN agencies. The Government of Burundi (GOB) has an ambivalent relationship with the UN, but collaboration at a working level remains positive. Post recommends that the UN be encouraged not to sacrifice its role as an outspoken proponent of human rights in order to fulfill its political role in Burundi. END SUMMARY. -------------- UN Human Rights Operations in Burundi -------------- ¶2. (U) Eighty UN human rights employees work for the two administratively different but operationally seamless human rights agencies in Burundi. In addition to the 40 employees based at the headquarters in Bujumbura, 40 employees work in one of five field offices based in the interior of the country. Each field office conducts investigations of human rights violations and provides training to security forces and civil society. -------------- Strengths/Successes -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The UN has done a great job establishing effective communication with GOB security forces. Each week, in coordination with civil society, the UN leads a meeting with police, intelligence, and military representatives to discuss and follow up on investigations and alleged human rights violations by security forces. The representatives willingly participate and discuss the outstanding issues of the day, even if it is only to acknowledge a violation has taken place. Also, representatives of the security services and some GOB Ministers actively participate in monthly UN briefings to the diplomatic corps on the human rights environment in Burundi. The UN also widely and publicly participates in high-profile trials and prison visits to political prisoners. ¶4. (SBU) The UN human rights operations do a thorough job of monitoring human rights abuses throughout the country, and then regularly diffusing their reports to the international community, the media, and the GOB. The UN also conducts capacity-building and awareness exercises for security forces throughout the country to complement broader international community security sector reform efforts. The UN received high praise for a highly successful 2008 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Burundi's human rights environment with the participation of international human rights experts, Burundi-based UN representatives, and Burundian civil society members in Geneva. The UPR served to raise the profile of the deteriorating situation of human rights in Burundi. ¶5. (SBU) The UN is doing extensive rehabilitation of Burundi's judicial infrastructure throughout the country, and is providing logistical and financial assistance to the judicial branch to help expedite the overwhelming backlog of cases facing the court system. Thousands of cases remain to be handled, but thousands more have already been processed. The UN also collaborated with the Vice-Ministry of Human Rights to produce a highly-praised draft law for the creation of a National Commission on Human Rights. The proposed Commission strictly adhered to the Paris Principles, the international standards for the establishment of such a human rights commission. -------------- Challenges -------------- ¶6. (C) Critics in civil society argue that the integration of the OHCHR into BINUB has prevented the UN from being more outspoken in criticizing GOB actions, as BINUB tries to limit its political exposure. For example, BINUB is part of a group of international actors negotiating the provisions of a cease-fire agreement between Burundi's last rebel group, the FNL, and the GOB. According to one civil society critic, in order for the UN to maintain its "neutrality" in the negotiations, it cannot be overcritical of the government, lest it find itself on the wrong side of the GOB and no longer an effective negotiator. ¶7. (C) The UN is facing major challenges in establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The GOB continues to put up roadblocks to delay the establishment of a commission and it will take persistent pressure by the UN to ensure that a TRC is eventually established in Burundi. Also, the UN will have to continue its lobbying efforts with Parliamentarians to ensure that the revised draft law to establish a stripped-down National Human Rights Commission is not enacted. The proposed Commission would be a powerless organization that would be unable to effect real human rights change in Burundi. ¶8. (C) Human rights abuses, particularly limits on freedom of expression and arbitrary detention, are increasing in Burundi as 2010 elections approach. The ruling party is less and less receptive to any criticism that may imperil its chances at a reelection victory in 2010. The UN is having a difficult time addressing these often blatant violations of human rights and subsequent lack of due process by the Burundian judicial authorities. -------------- UN relationship with GOB -------------- ¶9. (C) Bujumbura's Attorney General told an Embassy official in January that the UN's human rights operations have little to no impact on GOB actions, and characterized the GOB's attitude towards the UN as ambivalent. A high-ranking Hutu member of President Nkurunziza's staff told the director of UN human rights operations in Burundi that the UN and its agenda is manipulated by its mostly Tutsi local staff and therefore not reliable. Opposition parties' representatives also told Embassy officials in January that even if UN human rights criticisms complement their own condemnations of the ruling party, it is difficult to assess if the UN has a meaningful impact. -------------- Recommendation for U.S. -------------- ¶10. (C) Post recommends that the UN be encouraged to be more outspoken in its criticism of the GOB, especially in light of recent high profile arrests of journalists, opposition leaders, and a labor unionist (ref B). It would be useful if the UN could lead an international community effort to engage the GOB on these egregious human rights violations, and highlight the possible long term effects such actions can have on international goodwill towards Burundi. Further, in light of the coming elections, the UN needs to take a strong and outspoken stand against GOB actions to marginalize political opposition, in order to ensure a free and fair outcome in 2010. Moller