GA73 | Burundi’s attempts to silence UN monitoring body rejected by GA human rights committee

Today the General Assembly’s Third Committee voted to ensure reporting by a UN monitoring body on the human rights situation in Burundi, rejecting efforts by Burundi to stop it from doing so. By a vote 73-33, it was confirmed that the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi will present its report and engage in a dialogue with States later this month.

‘Reporting by the Commission should never have been challenged – this is simply an attempt by Burundi to avoid scrutiny’, said ISHR’s Madeleine Sinclair. ‘The vote is a good outcome for all those interested in accountability in the country.’

Following the vote, Namibia, in a powerful address, noted that ‘you cannot pick and choose those UN human rights commissions you like and those you don’t. That said, Namibia abstained.

Botswana was the only African State to vote in favour of the Commission reporting. Rwanda – the only other African State that voted for the creation of the Commission of Inquiry at the Human Rights Council in 2016 – abstained.

This morning’s vote followed attempts made earlier in the week to put obstacles in the way of the Commission of Inquiry. Burundi claimed there was no legal basis for the Commission to report to the General Assembly, and called for advice from the UN Office of Legal Affairs (OLA). A subsequent vote in the Third Committee supported the request.

This morning, that advice – confirming a legal basis for the Commission to report – was challenged by Burundi. Taking the floor, Burundi noted that because the advice had been drawn up and provided to the Committee in a couple of days, it must have been pre-prepared and, therefore, spoke to a ‘politicised’ process.

Joking that the Secretariat is generally criticised for being too slow rather than too speedy in its work, the Committee Secretary explained that OLA had been alerted to the fact that the Third Committee might request such advice and so had been ready to prepare it in a timely manner.

Establishing a legal basis for the Commission to report was a straightforward process of looking at recent resolutions and practice, said Sinclair. ‘This wasn’t a complex legal question’, she commented.

The Burundi Commission of Inquiry was first established by UN Member States in the Human Rights Council in September 2016, to monitor and report on the serious human rights violations and abuses in the country since April 2015. The mandate was renewed in 2017, with a specific decision that it report to this General Assembly 73^rd Session. Last month the mandate was renewed for another year in recognition of the need for ongoing monitoring of the situation in Burundi.

Burundi has not allowed the Commission into the country. It has declared members of the Commission ‘persona non grata’ and levied personal attacks against them, including during the Third Committee session last year.

Earlier this week, ISHR and other NGOs urged States to vote in favour of the invitation to the Commission.