CASE No - Inter-Parliamentary Union

CL/183/SR.1
ANNEX VII
BURUNDI
CASE No. BDI/01 - S. MFAYOKURERA
CASE No. BDI/05 - I. NDIKUMANA
CASE No. BDI/06 - G. GAHUNGU
CASE No. BDI/07 - L. NTAMUTUMBA
CASE No. BDI/29 - P. SIRAHENDA
CASE No. BDI/35 - G. GISABWAMANA
Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 183 rd session
(Geneva, 15 October 2008)
The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Referring to the case of the above-mentioned Burundian parliamentarians, as outlined in
the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/183/12(b)-R.1), and to the
resolution adopted at its 182 nd session (April 2008),
Taking account of the letter of the President of the National Assembly of 8 October 2008
and of the information provided on the occasion of the hearing with the Committee by the Burundian
delegation to the 119 th IPU Assembly,
Recalling that: the parliamentarians concerned were killed between 1994 and 1999 and
that only in the case of Mr. Gisabwamana has the perpetrator - a military officer - been identified and
brought to justice, although the victim’s family has received no reparation; in 2004 one of the sources
reported the arrest of Mr. Parfait Mugenzi, one of the suspects in the murder of Mr. Mfayokurera and
the attempted murder of Mr. Ndihokubwayo, albeit in connection with the murder, in November 2001,
of Dr. Kassy Manlan, the representative of the World Health Organization in Burundi, and the return
from Rwanda, where they had fled, of two suspects in the case of Mr. Ndikumana, Mr. Ivan Bigendanko
and Mr. Désiré Banuma, who were in hiding in Burundi; in the case of Mr. Sirahenda, a member of the
military at Mabanda camp who subsequently deserted stated that he could one day testify to the
horrendous manner of Mr. Sirahenda’s killing at the camp,
Noting that Mr. Mugenzi is reportedly no longer in detention but on the run, his escape
from prison having allegedly been organized by the former Prosecutor General, who is said to have
provided him with a passport,
Recalling that the National Assembly set up a parliamentary working group to examine the
cases in question and noting in this respect that, since its first meeting in October 2006, at which it
worked out a strategy to obtain information on the cases in question, the working group has held no
further meetings; considering that the President of the National Assembly, in his communication of
8 October 2008, stated that "after a whole year of crisis in the National Assembly, the Bureau intends to
reactivate the working group on human rights to enable it to monitor how all these cases evolve
judicially",
Recalling also that the President of the National Assembly has stated that the cases would
be dealt with by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; considering that, according to his letter of
8 October 2008, a Tripartite Commission (United Nations, Government and Civil Society) had been in
place to conduct popular consultations on the questions not having produced consensus between the
United Nations and the Government and had recently produced a memorandum laying down the basic
principles of the consultations; the commission reckoned that these field consultations and the drafting
of the report could take a year; the Human Rights Committee of the National Assembly would continue
to monitor this matter,
Bearing in mind the work of the IPU, under its technical cooperation programme, to assist
the Parliament of Burundi in playing its role as an important facilitator of reconciliation in the country
and the difficulties encountered in this task,