Deploying AU Force Without Burundi Approval 'Unimaginable'
Addis Ababa
(AFP) - The African Union will not deploy peacekeepers to troubled Burundi unless the government in Bujumbura agrees, the AU special representative for the region told French radio RFI on Sunday.
Burundi has consistently opposed the idea of the AU's proposed 5,000-strong peacekeeping mission, saying the deployment of troops without its express permission would be tantamount to an "invasion force".
The UN has warned Burundi risks a repeat of a 1993-2006 civil war, with hundreds killed since April 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would stand for a controversial third term in office, and at least 230,000 people fleeing to neighbouring countries.
"It has been, I think, bad communication. It was never the intention of the African Union to deploy a mission to Burundi without the consent of Burundian authorities," Ibrahima Fall, AU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, said.
"This is unimaginable," the Senegalese diplomat added.
AU leaders are debating the crisis in Burundi at a two-day summit at the 54-member bloc's headquarters in Ethiopia. Talks are being held behind closed doors and it is unclear when a final decision will be taken.
Fall said the leaders were considering sending a "high-level delegation, not to say very high" to Burundi to hold talks with the government.
Nkurunziza's quest to remain in power sparked weeks of street protests that were brutally suppressed and a failed coup.
Since his re-election in July, clashes between government loyalists and the opposition have turned increasingly violent.
The AU charter's Article 4 (h) gives the pan-African bloc the right to intervene in a fellow nation state "in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity."
But analysts say other African nations are wary of setting a precedent of deploying troops against the government's wishes.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking on Saturday as the AU summit opened, made clear troops were needed to stem the violence.
"Leaders who stand by while civilians are slaughtered in their name must be held responsible," Ban said, insisting that the Burundi crisis required the "most serious and urgent commitment".
He said the UN backed the AU's proposal "to deploy human rights observers and to establish a prevention and protection mission".
Some African states oppose AU peace force for Burundi - Gambian pres.
By Aaron Maasho and Edmund Blair
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Some African states oppose sending peacekeepers to Burundi without its consent after it said that would be seen as an invasion, Gambia's president said on Saturday at the start of an African Union summit.
Rifts in Africa about whether to deploy the 5,000-strong force will worry Western powers and others, who fear Burundi will slide into ethnic conflict if there is no intervention.
The African Union's peace and security council announced the plan for the force in December, but Burundi swiftly rejected it.
The AU charter allows a force to be sent against the will of a host country if there is a risk of serious violence, such as genocide. But some African leaders may be concerned about setting a precedent that could be turned on them, experts say.
"It is not only Burundi that is resisting that idea," Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa when asked if there was opposition to the plan for peacekeepers. He did not name any nations.
Asked if Gambia was among them, he said: "Without the consent of Burundi, yes."
Burundi, facing its worst crisis since an ethnically charged civil war ended in 2005, is high on the agenda for the two-day summit as violence that has killed hundreds of people rattles a region where memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide are still raw.
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. They also said they were unlikely to succeed.
"When it comes to troops, our position has not changed. It is a no-go area under any conditions," Burundi's Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe told reporters in Addis Ababa.
Leaders from the 15 members of the council met on Friday in a bid to resolve differences but failed to reach a decision, said Smail Chergui, the AU's peace and security commissioner.
An African diplomat said South Africa and Tanzania, two main brokers of the peace deal that brought Nkurunziza to power in 2005, were among those opposed to sending an unwanted force.
Ivan Simonovic, U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights, said a failure to deploy troops would be a concern, but the AU should at least send more African human rights observers or send police.
"At the moment, it is important to increase international presence in one or the other form," he told Reuters.
(Editing by Tom Heneghan)
(AFP) - The African Union will not deploy peacekeepers to troubled Burundi unless the government in Bujumbura agrees, the AU special representative for the region told French radio RFI on Sunday.
Burundi has consistently opposed the idea of the AU's proposed 5,000-strong peacekeeping mission, saying the deployment of troops without its express permission would be tantamount to an "invasion force".
The UN has warned Burundi risks a repeat of a 1993-2006 civil war, with hundreds killed since April 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would stand for a controversial third term in office, and at least 230,000 people fleeing to neighbouring countries.
"It has been, I think, bad communication. It was never the intention of the African Union to deploy a mission to Burundi without the consent of Burundian authorities," Ibrahima Fall, AU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, said.
"This is unimaginable," the Senegalese diplomat added.
AU leaders are debating the crisis in Burundi at a two-day summit at the 54-member bloc's headquarters in Ethiopia. Talks are being held behind closed doors and it is unclear when a final decision will be taken.
Fall said the leaders were considering sending a "high-level delegation, not to say very high" to Burundi to hold talks with the government.
Nkurunziza's quest to remain in power sparked weeks of street protests that were brutally suppressed and a failed coup.
Since his re-election in July, clashes between government loyalists and the opposition have turned increasingly violent.
The AU charter's Article 4 (h) gives the pan-African bloc the right to intervene in a fellow nation state "in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity."
But analysts say other African nations are wary of setting a precedent of deploying troops against the government's wishes.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking on Saturday as the AU summit opened, made clear troops were needed to stem the violence.
"Leaders who stand by while civilians are slaughtered in their name must be held responsible," Ban said, insisting that the Burundi crisis required the "most serious and urgent commitment".
He said the UN backed the AU's proposal "to deploy human rights observers and to establish a prevention and protection mission".
Some African states oppose AU peace force for Burundi - Gambian pres.
By Aaron Maasho and Edmund Blair
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Some African states oppose sending peacekeepers to Burundi without its consent after it said that would be seen as an invasion, Gambia's president said on Saturday at the start of an African Union summit.
Rifts in Africa about whether to deploy the 5,000-strong force will worry Western powers and others, who fear Burundi will slide into ethnic conflict if there is no intervention.
The African Union's peace and security council announced the plan for the force in December, but Burundi swiftly rejected it.
The AU charter allows a force to be sent against the will of a host country if there is a risk of serious violence, such as genocide. But some African leaders may be concerned about setting a precedent that could be turned on them, experts say.
"It is not only Burundi that is resisting that idea," Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa when asked if there was opposition to the plan for peacekeepers. He did not name any nations.
Asked if Gambia was among them, he said: "Without the consent of Burundi, yes."
Burundi, facing its worst crisis since an ethnically charged civil war ended in 2005, is high on the agenda for the two-day summit as violence that has killed hundreds of people rattles a region where memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide are still raw.
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. They also said they were unlikely to succeed.
"When it comes to troops, our position has not changed. It is a no-go area under any conditions," Burundi's Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe told reporters in Addis Ababa.
Leaders from the 15 members of the council met on Friday in a bid to resolve differences but failed to reach a decision, said Smail Chergui, the AU's peace and security commissioner.
An African diplomat said South Africa and Tanzania, two main brokers of the peace deal that brought Nkurunziza to power in 2005, were among those opposed to sending an unwanted force.
Ivan Simonovic, U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights, said a failure to deploy troops would be a concern, but the AU should at least send more African human rights observers or send police.
"At the moment, it is important to increase international presence in one or the other form," he told Reuters.
(Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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