Burundi could be in hot water with Great Lakes Committee

BURUNDI has been warned by the Great Lakes Committee on Peace and Security that it risks suspension over its refusal to implement some resolutions passed last year at the 7th Plenary Assembly of the Forums of Parliaments of member countries.

Uganda’s KFM radio station reported yesterday that according to committee president Arinaitwe Rwakajara, member countries had agreed that President Pierre Nkurunziza had to embrace dialogue with the regional and international community as well as end the killings that were ravaging this country.

The committee recommended Burundi continue to co-operate with the mediation team instituted by the East African Community.

However, Burundi had remained defiant, refusing to implement any of the recommendations. Meanwhile, a mass grave containing the remains of more than 1 000 people was found on Tuesday in Rusaka commune in central Burundi, Anadolu News Agency reported on Wednesday.

“The macabre discovery took place at a construction site where a training centre is being built,” said Jean-Marie Nyakarerwa, governor of Mwaro.

The precise number of dead, and their identities, have yet to be ascertained. However, Jean-Louis Nahimana, president of the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, told reporters his institution would visit the site to collect more information.

The grave dates back to 1972 when ethnic violence between Hutus and Tutsis, the main ethnic groups in the country, led to the death of more than 200 000 people – mainly members of the Hutu majority.