U.N. Group Accuses Burundi Leaders of Crimes Against Humanity
A panel of investigators set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council a year ago said on Monday
that it delivered a list of suspects to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and was giving the Security Council another list of people it said should face sanctions.
John Fisher said that Cooperation with council mechanisms is not optional,
but a requirement of membership, and there should be consequences for persistent noncompliance,
Mr. Ouguergouz did not name Mr. Nkurunziza as a suspect, but the panel attributed the crimes to "the highest levels of the state." It also described a parallel system of government in which major decisions, including some
that led to severe human rights violations, were made by the president and a small entourage of people close to him.
As the panel prepares to present its findings this month to the 47-member Human Rights Council, which includes Burundi,
its report also raises questions about whether the country should be allowed to remain on the council.
The council will decide this month whether to extend the panel’s powers of inquiry,
and diplomats say it may also call for a review of Burundi’s membership by the United Nations General Assembly, which elects council members.
That refusal to cooperate with a panel created by the Human Rights Council flouted
a core requirement for membership in the group, the world’s top human rights body.
Now, United Nations human rights investigators say they believe Burundi’s top leaders and state security agencies committed crimes against humanity.