Pierre Nkurunziza´s unconstitutional decision to run for a third period as president led to a two-year conflict in Burundi. Why is the international society seemingly paralyzed when it comes to dealing with the crisis in the relatively small country?
East African leaders like Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and John Magufuli (Tanzania) have used their positions to protect the Burundian president.
Burundian soldiers that have committed documented human rights violations are parts of peace keeping forces in CAR and Somalia, financed by the EU and the UN.
Norway is seemingly taking a passive stand towards the crisis in a historical important country to Norwegian aid on the African continent.
In addition to this, Burundi has already started the process of withdrawal from The International Criminal Court (ICC), with a final exit taking place this fall. This provides the ICC with a small window of opportunity to prosecute war criminals in the country, but it is not evident whether the ICC will take advantage of this window.
The African Union has failed to promote peace and human rights and the UN has not been able to get Nkurunziza to respect resolutions, criticism and wishes to send observers.
What will it take before the international society acts in a meaningful way in dealing with the crisis in Burundi? And who has the key to peace within the country?
In the panel:
- Carine Kaneza, Washington-based human rights activist with a background in conflict resolution
- Heikki E. Holmås, Member of Parliament for the Socialist Left Party (SV) and former Minister of International Development
- Pascal Ruhomvyumworo, the Burundian ambassador to Norway
Due to poor audio quality, the Q&A has not been included in the podcast.
