Lawyers want ICC to investigate Burundi crisis

The East Africa Law Society (EALS) has now asked the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda to initiate investigations for the potential crimes against humanity being committed in Burundi.

In a letter to Bensouda, the EALS said their call is premised on the fact that since President Pierre Nkurunziza was announced winner of a disputed Presidential election in July 2015, the citizens of Burundi continue to suffer widespread and systematic murders, torture and enforced disappearance of persons.

“Despite the government imposed total ban on the media in Burundi, we continue to receive gruesome pictures of bodies of persons killed and dumped on the streets of the capital city Bujumbura; and the tally of persons killed extra judicially continues to rise as per the information from both national and international organisations operating in Burundi,” read the letter in part.

The situation in the country has led to thousands of refugees fleeing Burundi to the neighbouring countries of Rwanda and Tanzania.

EALS called for urgency in the matter noting the ICC is committed to ensuring that the most serious crimes of international concern should not go unpunished.

“Perpetrators of these crimes should be held accountable through a combination of national and international mechanisms, it is the hope of the East Africa Law Society that your Office shall immediately initiate investigations into the ongoing potential crimes against humanity being committed in the Republic of Burundi, and ensure that those complicit or culpable are held to account,” further read the letter.

The EALS wants the ICC to initiate the investigations under articles 15 and 54 of the Rome Statute, adding the investigation shall also be in line with Goal 16 of the recently adopted United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as highlighted in the Statement of the President of the Court commemorating the International Human Rights Day.

“The goal formulates a commitment to peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, through enhancing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels with a view of reducing and preventing violence through the promotion of the rule of law,” reads the letter.