African Union OKs deployment of Burundi peacekeeping force

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council said in a statement it had drawn up plans for the force, to be called MAPROBU, and had asked the U.N. Security Council to give it the final clearance it needed to get boots on the ground.

“First of all”, Nyamitwe said, “Burundi is a sovereign country, and they can not send troops to Burundi without the commitment from Burundi”.

The AU said its Burundi mission is also meant to facilitate political moves to resolve the growing sectarian conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi populations.

The government of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has reportedly said that it will not allow foreign troops across its borders. Burundi’s government insists its troops acted professionally.

The presidential adviser contends a few Burundians who are trying to destabilize the country are to blame for the recent problems, but says that security agencies are dealing with the ongoing violence in a bid to restore peace.

Fourteen groups including Burundi’s ruling party, opposition parties and civic organisations will attend the talks aimed at ending the violent political unrest in which hundreds have been killed, said Crispus Kiyonga, who is also facilitating the peace talks mediated by the East African Community.

The US sanctions come after some 100 people were killed during and after coordinated assaults on three military installations in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, on December 11.

The force is mandated to “prevent any deterioration of the security situation” as well as to protect civilians and “contribute to the creation of the necessary conditions for the successful holding of the inter-Burundian dialogue”. Police and military are accused of dragging more than 150 civilians from their homes and shooting them at point blank range, according to human rights groups.

But the chances for the negotiations are not certain as the Nkurunziza government has refused to participate in previous talks.

At a special session in Geneva on Thursday, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously made a decision to urgently send investigators to the central African country to investigate widespread rights abuses.

Violence in landlocked Burundi erupted in April after president Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would seek a third term in elections, which he later won.

In its communique, the council essentially gave Burundi the weekend to accept the force, failure to which it will push African presidents to vote to allow it to deploy anyway.

Reports indicate that since April about 200,000 people have fled the violence in the country.