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1-6 April 2016

Weekly Media Monitoring report for Burundi
Posted on April 15, 2016

Contents

Compiled by Francesca Ekwuyasi

  1. Arrests, Kidnappings, and Disappearances
  2. Lifting of Prohibition of Exports to Rwanda
  3. Responses to the UN Resolution on Burundi
1. Arrests, Kidnappings, and Disappearances
Social Media

(SOS Media, Social Media, April 6, 2016, in French) 

Makamba (Sud Burundi): Une Jeune Personne Arretee sur Decnonciation

  • A native of the Kibago commune and lauréat de l'Ecole Technique Médicale, Ferdinand Irabandutira was arrested this afternoon after a member of the ruling party, CNDD-FDD, denounced and accused him of providing care to the rebels.

Burambi: de Nouvelles Arrestations

  • Two men and a woman were arrested this morning in Burambi, in the Rumonge province, south of Burundi.

Bujumbura: Envlevement en Plein Marche "Chez Siyoni"

  • Two policewomen in plain clothes kidnapped Placide Biraboneye, a mineral water distributor in the “Chez Siyoni” market. Biraboneye was apprehended and forced aboard an unmarked black car.

Musaga (Bujumbura):Un Homme Arette a son Travail par le SNR

  • The National Intelligence Service (SNR) arrested Claude Niyomwungere, a young man living in Musaga, this morning while he was at work. No explanation has been provided on the grounds of his arrest. Other arrests have been reported in the district of Musaga, especially in the second avenue.

Cibitoke: un Jeune homme Porte Disparu, un Autre en Prison

  • Boris Sinagoye has been missing since March 23 after being arrested by the National Intelligence Service in the Cibitoke Province. The young man’s family has expressed their concern after searching and failing to him in different holding cells. They have launched an appeal to different human rights defenders, asking them to help find Sinagoye. At the time of his arrest, Boris Sinagoye was held with 24 year old Bernardin Delick Banzubaze who has been taken to a prison in Mpimba.

Burambi: Des Arrestations Arbitraires Apres L’attaque Armee

  • Two people were arrested last night in the Burambi locality. One of them is named Eugenie Haonimana, she was taken to the local police station, and forced to leave her three small children at home alone.
  • She was arrested because he husband is suspected of belonging to a rebel group.
  • The second person that was arrested in Gishiha is a student of the Basic School. He was arrested because they failed to apprehend his father who is a former military personnel. Some inhabitants of the Burambi small committee denounce the arbitrary arrests. 
2. Prohibition of Exports to Rwanda
Social Media

(SOS Media, Social Media, April 6, 2016, in French)

Cibitoke: Levee de L’interdiction D’exportation vers le Rwanda

  • The ban on the exports to Rwanda has been lifted, and small trasers are now able to resume their activities.
  • The embargo brought about a massive loss for people living along the Rwandan border; they had some perishable goods such as tomatoes, eggplants and onions, which were starting to rot in the fields.
  • Rwandan traders are returning to their normal supply on the markets of the communes of Mugina, Mabayi and Rugombo.
  • According to a resident who met with SOS Media Burundi, "this ban on merchants travelling in Rwanda was a consequence of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries".
  • The Provincial Administration did not specify the reasons for which she has blocked the trade. She merely indicates that the lifting of the measure was made in the interest of the people concerned.
3. Responses to the UN Resolution on Burundi  
Privately Owned Media

(RSF Bonesha FM, Privately Owned Media, April 4, 2016, in French)

Burundi : La Coalition pour l’Opposition Pacifique soutient la résolution du Conseil de Sécurité des Nations Unies

  • The president of the COPA participatory coalition welcomes the resolution of the UN Security Council to send observers to Burundi police. 
  • According to Jean de Dieu Mutabazi, this police observers committee will prepare reports on the reality of the situation in the country. 
  • Jean de Dieu Mutabazi said that the reports of this commission will show that the situation is not alarming. For him, there is no problem if the government of Burundi and the United Nations to agree on a memorandum of understanding. 

Le MSD se dit profondément déçu par la résolution de l’ONU sur le Burundi

  • The resolution of the UN Security Council on Burundi shows the total disregard for the victims of the bloody Pierre Nkurunziza regime only strengthens the powers that be in their determination to complete the ongoing process of genocide, according to party the Movement for Solidarity and Development.
  • In a statement this Monday, April 4, 2016, the party said to have taken note of this resolution whose main decision is the sending of a police force and said the UN Security Council shows that it has learned nothing from the Rwandan tragedy of 1994.
  • According to the MSD party "the Burundian people need a military that protects against the abuses he suffered and not an international police whose role would be to make the macabre accounts of daily victims of the system."
  • In this release, the MSD says it is up to each Burundian citizen to exercise his right of defense since the UN are unable to act in this direction
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