Justice and Peace Coordinators from AMECEA member countries have strongly condemned the increasing killings, torture and human rights violations in Burundi and called for the East African Community (EAC) and African Union (AU) to take action immediately against the crisis.
In their statement issued on 14 December 2015; at the end of their two-day consultative meeting in Nairobi, Kenya the coordinators stated that Governments in the region seem to have turned a blind eye to the situation in Burundi as they were asking them and the international community to immediately to intervene to stop the killings.
The call came after receiving media reports that just recently alone about 87 people have been killed in Burundi in the worst outbreak of political violence since an attempted coup in April, with residents describing victims shot execution-style, some with hands bound behind their backs.
Full Text of the Press Statement
Statement of AMECEA Justice and Peace Executive Secretaries at the end of a 2-day Consultative meeting in Nairobi 14th December 2015
We the Justice and Peace National Executive Secretaries meeting in Nairobi, to deliberate on our governance programmes, regional justice and peace issues and also better mechanisms of networking had the opportunity to learn from each other and also provide solidarity and encouragement for the various conferences.
In our deliberations, the African curse of conflict brought about by the various injustices kept finding its way back into our conversations. These conflicts are not new, but they have become more violent and escalate faster. The South Sudanese issue becomes the first priority for Association of Member Episcopal Conference in Eastern Africa - AMECEA region and is at the bosom of our hearts. But the pain we feel for our bleeding brothers and sisters does not stop with South Sudan. Not to belittle in anyway this South Sudanese conflict, our hearts bleed even more when we see what is happening in our neighboring Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa – (Association des Conférences Episcopales de l’Afrique Centrale - ACEAC) and specifically Burundi. It was with this heart wrenching pain that we interrupted our deliberations on the AMECEA regional issues to discuss Burundi.
Burundi forms part of ACEAC, which covers 3 countries (Burundi, Rwanda and The Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC). ACEAC forms one of the 8 regional episcopal conferences under SECAM and directly neighbors AMECEA region and hence the fire burning in our neighbor’s house cannot be ignored.
History is repeating itself right in-front of us and we seem hapless and helpless. Politics is once again taking center stage to cause death and unwarranted destruction. When does it stop? Egypt, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, and and and…
What shocks us and baffles us even more, is that Burundi is a strong Catholic country with over 60% of the community being Catholics. So we ask ourselves, where is our catechism?
Governments in the region seem to have turned a blind eye to the situation in Burundi and we ask ourselves, do the heads of states in the East African Community (EAC) assume that this cannot happen in any of their countries? How do we let negative ethnicity drive our countries? What are we preparing our children and grandchildren to inherit?
The international community has been asked time and again to intervene in Burundi. The results have been more and more talking. We should, act and talk less.
We as the Justice and Peace Executive Secretaries in the AMECEA Region would like to make the following cry of mercy.
1. We call upon the national conferences within the regions of AMECEA and ACEAC to take a lead role in publicly engaging with the different political leaders and governments to put pressure on them to ensure this indifferencethey are showing comes to an end.
2. We are calling upon the catholic faithful in the AMECEA region and in Africa under the auspices of Symposium of Episcopal Conferences for Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) to show solidarity with Burundi and rise up with one voice against this violence.
3. We are proposing that we, as Christians and people of good faith are given space through appointment of a special peace envoy to Burundi to work with the government and the so-called rebels to cease hostilities.
4. We are asking the East African Community and the African Union to take up their obligations and mandates to show ethical leadership by discussing the Burundi conflict and engaging all parties involved in the conflict so as to achieve long lasting peace in Burundi, in the region and in the continent. It is time we discuss negative ethnicity as a region and continent especially where it is used to bring about armed conflict.
5. And lastly to the leadership in Burundi. Your people are your greatest asset. You are destroying your greatest asset.
We pray that with this cry, our catholic faithful will live their Christian life and act against this violence that is killing our children.
God bless
1. Antony Mbandi – AMECEA Justice Peace and Caritas
2. Dr. Emmanuel Kiiza Aliba – Uganda CJPC
3. Martin Chiphwanya – Malawi CJPC
4. Berhanu Tamene – AU /SECAM Liaison Office; Ethiopia
5. Melaku Tamrat – Ethiopia CJPC
6. Beatrice Odera – Kenya CJPC
7. Jim Long John – CJPC South Sudan
Nairobi, 14 December 2015