In Burundi, it is not power-sharing that is the problem, it is the cycle of impunity

As advocates of the many victims of the Burundi crisis, we join the voices that have expressed disappointment in the decision by the government of Burundi to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.

This unfortunate decision was prompted by the release of the Final Report of the UN Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIB), which found that the means, methods, and frequency of violence being carried out in Burundi are systematic, widespread, and amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity that must be investigated.

Burundi, since 2014, has adopted a non-cooperative posture with the African and international diplomatic system and this decision fits into that larger pattern of behaviour.

The African Union Commission on Human and People’s Rights, in its December 2015 Report, recommended the establishment of an independent, internationally supported special tribunal in Burundi.

In April 2016, the International Criminal Court opened a preliminary examination of Burundi in light of the disturbing pattern of atrocities including mass graves, the systematic use of rape, a wave of targeted assassinations and enforced disappearances and the sharp rise in ethnic incitement.

In October, the United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIB) confirmed that the violations now being committed on a daily basis in Burundi have morphed into something much more sinister than a mere dispute over term limits.

A comprehensive report found that a climate of terror and fear had taken hold in Burundi.

The breakdown of the rule of law, the lack of redress, and the crimes being committed, are the result of deliberate decisions that fit into a logic of political control premised on the unleashing of violence on an almost daily basis.

Indeed investigators reached the conclusion that many Burundians have been warning about this past year, namely, that the situation in the country bears all the hallmarks of an unfolding mass atrocity.

The African Union voiced these same concerns when it undertook to deploy a 5,000 strong civilian protection mission to Burundi, a decision that sadly was not implemented. Similarly, the UN Security Council decision authorising the deployment of individual police officers to protect civilians has stalled.

Meanwhile, atrocities against civilians continue unabated. The world became aware through the UNIB report of the existence of teams of people who carry out enforced disappearances.

The report uncovered a spate of brutal torture. It confirmed the existence of secret places of detention, including properties owned by senior officials. Investigators found evidence of more mass graves, as well as the intensification of ethnic-based hate speech and incitement by senior officials.

Burundi, which has experienced two genocides in 1972, and 1991, is still prone to mass atrocities. Whenever political strife becomes prolonged, ethnic incitement and genocidal language are not very far from the surface. Political elites have a culture of inciting sectarian violence.

It is a disturbingly resilient problem in our political culture, one that many Burundians thought they had left behind after the Arusha Accords were signed.

The alarm that our people are raising is therefore not exaggerated. It is unhelpful to dismiss it a neo-colonial plot by international justice mechanisms as some have suggested.

Every major African peace process around Burundi has called for international judicial mechanisms to address the cycle of war crimes and crimes against humanity in our country. This includes the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement and the unanimous African support for the establishment, in 1995, of an International Commission of Inquiry on Burundi.

We should also recall the series of attempts by several African countries to establish a special mixed chamber within the Burundian judiciary to implement the accountability provisions of the Arusha Accords.

Indeed, the entire agenda of accountability for war crimes, and the crime of genocide, is a longstanding African idea, one that was unfortunately rejected by Burundian politicians after power sharing was established.

Africans and the international community should be alarmed that this government has blanketed the country with the Imbonerakure, an ethnic militia harkening back to the civil war, and now organised at the village level – explaining the exodus of refugees fleeing for safety.

All should be concerned that this militia now has numbers higher than those of the national army, and operates with impunity, even abducting and killing military men perceived to be a threat to the regime.

Burundi’s troubled history has taught its citizens that accountability for crimes against humanity is the path to peace.

During the Arusha process, a terrorised population allowed the negotiators to set aside accountability in the interests of peace. Now it is clear that had these provisions been implemented, Burundi would probably have escaped the current round of crisis.

Nelson Mandela himself warned about this, when as mediator he saw the lack of interest by the parties in the accountability provisions. Burundians are now invoking Mandela’s warning. We will not, and cannot, welcome any process that reduces the issues that divide us to mere power sharing. Power is not the core problem in Burundi.

The cycle of impunity and lack of accountability is at the root of the conflict. That is why we welcome African and international efforts to establish an impartial, international mechanism to deal with accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity in our country.

That is why the victims of this crisis will not rest until all those who bear responsibility for these crimes, irrespective of who they are, are brought to book.

It will not be business as usual in our country, with or without the ICC. This is our message to Africa, and the international community, and our message to each and every Burundian citizen today.

Carine Kaneza is the spokesperson for the Women and Girls Movement for Peace and Security in Burundi.