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.

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UN Human Rights Operations in Burundi
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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.

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Strengths/Successes
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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.

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Challenges
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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.

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UN relationship with GOB
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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.

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Recommendation for U.S.
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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