Burundi has consistently opposed the idea of the AU’s planned 5,000-strong peacekeeping mission, saying that the deployment of troops without its express permission would be tantamount to an “invasion force”.
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“We want dialogue with the government of Burundi”, Smail Chergui, the AU’s Commissioner for Peace and Security, told reporters after the summit, saying a “a high-level” delegation would seek Burundi’s approval to deploy the force.
Yahya Jammeh, president of Gambia, which is on the 15-member AU peace and security council, had said on Saturday some African states were against sending any peacekeepers to Burundi against its will. He had raised fears the AU was wavering on the issue. The United Nations has warned the country risks sliding back into a civil conflict that could spill over into a region that includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s biggest copper producer.
A two-thirds majority of the 54-member union is required to deploy a peacekeeping force. “If the AU summit doesn’t sanction Burundi in some way, the Burundians will walk away feeling they were successful and that the fraternity of heads of state is on their side”, said Wolters.
The summit considered efforts already under way to realise the continental vision for the next 50 years of the existence of the AU, known as Agenda 2063.
Officials have said African leaders would try to persuade President Pierre Nkurunziza – who triggered the crisis by standing for a disputed third term in July elections – to accept such a force.
“Together we must work for peace, security and stability for the people of this continent”, he said.
Amnesty International produced video evidence at the time of the summit of at least five mass graves in Burundi used by presidential supporters to bury their slain opponents.
The UN’s assistant secretary general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, urged the African Union to increase the human rights monitoring presence in Burundi in the event that it does not dispatch peacekeepers, according to Reuters. Former army officials attempted, and failed, to carry out a coup in May.
The exiled leader of the Opposition Front for Democracy in Burundi, Jean Minani, agrees with Lumumba.
The situation in Burundi had been deteriorating and many people had been killed; and about a million had been displaced internally or forced to flee the country as refugees.
Asked if more monitors would go, Chergui told Reuters: “That question is too early”.
But just over a month later, AU leaders at this weekend’s meeting in Addis Ababa abandoned those plans and instead opted to send a delegation to hold talks.
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The UN had been urging Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, in particular, to engage in inclusive dialogue, listening carefully what the concerns and aspirations of Burundian people were, Ban said.
