The world wrongly gambled on peace without justice in Burundi, says transitional justice expert

03 June 2015 by Janet H. Anderson, The Hague (The Netherlands)

Over the last month, Burundi has hit the headlines as the president put himself forward to be elected for a controversial third term, resulting in street protests, thousands of refugees who fled instability and an attempted coup. Behind the issues of elections and constitutionalism are also those of justice following Burundi’s long-running civil war. The international community supported an intensive process of negotiation and the signing of the Arusha Accord in 2000. But in the decade and a half since, its provisions on justice have been debated though never fully implemented.

Image caption:

United Nations Operation in Burundi disarms rebel forces in Mbanda in February 2005 (Photo: Flickr/UN Photo/Martine Perret)

IJT spoke with Stef Vandeginste, a lecturer at the Institute of Development Policy and Management at the University of Antwerp and the author of several publications on Burundi.

How did the Arusha Accord, which aimed to bring an end to the 1993-2005 civil war between a Tutsi-dominated government and Hutu rebels, understand justice?

SV: It highlighted the importance of dealing with the past. The Arusha Accord made clear that there was no chance of leaving the past behind – it had to be dealt with in order to solve conflict in a sustainable manner. Three mechanisms were put forward.

Burundi quickly set up a reparations commission, which has now treated thousands of case files, but how is it seen?

Tags:

Burundi, transitional justice

View full issue IJT 183

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Morocco - From collective pardon to collective amnesia?

19 February 2007 by Laetitia Grotti

One year ago on January 6, 2006, the 17 members of Morocco's Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) were closing up shop after submitting their final report to King Mohammed VI. The Moroccan truth commission had received a flood of compliments from the international community praising the recommendations in its report, especially those advocating legislative and constitutional reforms. One year later, however, the results have been rather mixed.

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Simon Bikindi, extremist singer

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After having tried high-ranking officers, ministers, businessmen, priests, journalists, local officials and militiamen, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is in uncharted waters. On September 11, the most famous rwandese troubadour of his generation will stand trial for genocide.

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II- Beijing's calculated prudence

23 October 2006 by Christine Chaumeau

China is keeping a polite distance from international criminal justice. Beijing is hardly disinterested, but China does want to make sure that these new global mechanisms are not going to infringe upon its sovereignty by delving into particularly sensitive cases such as Tibet.

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