PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN MINISTER OF BURUNDI

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN MINISTER OF BURUNDI

Noting that the security situation had largely improved in Burundi, Foreign Minister Luc Rukingama this afternoon appealed for an end to economic sanctions against his country. He told a Headquarters press conference that a peace process, involving the population and all political forces, was being pursued in open-ended dialogue at seminars and round-table conferences.

He also reiterated his Government's appeal to the Security Council to establish an international criminal court for Burundi to judge crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide. "We are convinced in Burundi that we cannot build peace on impunity." The Foreign Minister this morning briefed members of the Council, under the "Arriar formula", on developments in Burundi.

At the press briefing was Gamaliel Ndaruzaniye, the Permanent Representative of Burundi.

The Foreign Minister said political parties were operating in Burundi, and the Parliament was functioning. Parliament was also working with the Government on the peace process. He appealed to Burundi's neighbours to end the economic sanctions imposed on the country, on 31 July 1996, soon after the change in Government.

The Foreign Minister said that, for more than four years, Burundi had gone through one of the most serious crises in its history -- a crisis which had begun with the assassination of the then President and the genocide committed against those who refused to follow the path of violence. That tragedy had eventually paralysed the country, leading to the events which resulted in the change in Government on 25 July 1996.

The new Government had set, as its main objective, the restoration of security and peace, and that was being done through a process of dialogue, open to all political forces. The Government was also committed to responding to the needs of the people, including displaced persons. It was relaunching economic development, working first to rebuild the infrastructures destroyed during the civil war. He called for international assistance and support for reconstruction and resumption of cooperation for development.

He said he was in New York to inform public opinion about the positive developments in Burundi and the steps being taken towards peace and reconciliation. The Burundi Parliament had already taken several measures to promote the lifting of sanctions and cooperation with Burundi's neighbours. He mentioned, in particular, the dispatch of a joint Government-parliamentary mission to neighbouring countries to explain the peace process. He welcomed the recent visit to Burundi of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata.

Burundi Press Conference - 2 - 17 March 1998

He said an obstacle to the peace process was manoeuvres to exclude Burundi from participating in meetings on its future. The Burundi people would not accept the outcome of such meetings.

Despite all those difficulties, he said the Government and people of Burundi would continue to keep their commitments to strengthen the peace process. He announced that two former Presidents, including Sylvestre Ntibantunganya who sought refuge at the United States Embassy in Kigali soon after his Government was overthrown, had been freed. Those were positive steps.

Asked whether he had requested the lifting of sanctions in his discussions with Security Council members this morning, he said there had been an exchange of views on its disastrous effects on the people of Burundi. The Council was of a general view that sanctions should be lifted as soon as possible.

He told a questioner that he had not raised the issue of peacekeeping forces in Burundi. He had commended the United Nations for continuing to finance its offices in Burundi and also for the dispatch of special envoys, including the Secretary-General's Representative and Regional Humanitarian Adviser for the Great Lakes Region, Berhanu Dinka, who was "doing a very interesting work in Burundi".

Asked what he thought the United Nations could have or should have done to curb violence in his region, the Foreign Minister said he thought the international community should not have left Rwanda at the time that it was terribly needed, when the genocide began.

Asked whether Burundi had approached regional mediators to help resolve the crisis in his country, he said that a great deal of consciousness-raising had been necessary so that the question of Burundi would not be resolved in a quiet way on the sidelines. The international community should be involved and follow the situation.

Asked whether African States should play a key role in regional peace- keeping operations such as the one led by Nigeria in Sierra Leone, he said there was need for cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) for that purpose. The basis for such cooperation would be mutual exchange of information. Secondly, it would be up to African States to decide what means could best be employed for conflict resolution and then request assistance. Such cooperation should be carried out within the principles of the Charters of the United Nations and of the OAU, he said.

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