Kenyan Legislators Urged Immediate Action As Fear For Worst Civil War Yet In Burundi Upsurge

Highlights:

AU-backed African Commission on Human and People’s Rights carried out a research in Burundi between December 7 and 13 that revealed the scary and violent truth in Burundi.

The investigators have expressed the fear of Burundi plunging into a worse war than its infamous 1993-2005 civil war.

Summary:

Burundi’s crisis which started in April 2015 is at the brink of turning into a full blown war after investigators from AU-backed African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights said following investigations in the country between December 7 and 13.

The investigators expressed the fear of the country dipping into a greater war than the infamous 1993-2005 civil war that left thousands dead and others homeless.

According to the investigators there are grave human rights violations and other heinous abuses including arbitrary killings, targeted assassinations indiscriminate arrests and detentions, suspensions and closure of civil society organizations and the media (sic.).

Residents of Burundi are living in fear with thousands being forced to flee their home especially after the most recent explosions and killings during the military bases attacks last week.

The United Nations is however hesitant to deploy peacekeepers in Burundi citing no immediate threat and invoking the UN Security Council to war other options on the table. The current situation however, especially after the attack on the military bases indicates a change in tactics by the rebels to more forward and aggressive tactics.

While the mediation talks moderated by Uganda’s Museveni are still ongoing a section of Kenyan legislators have expressed discontent in how the East African Community is handling the matter. They have accused the leaders of not exploring immediate responses like deploying the East Africa Standby Force.

The East Africa Standby Force can be used to back up the Burundian military which experiencing huge manpower shortage as most soldiers have been suspected to have joined the rebels. The leaders have been urged to take action before Burundi returns into civil war which will not only affect Burundi but also the entire East African and Great Lakes Region which is very volatile and violence prone.