African Union: Burundi violence could harm entire region News
African Union: Burundi violence could harm entire region

[JURIST] The chair of the African Union (AU) [official website], Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma [official website], expressed concern that Burundi’s recent violence could be “catastrophic” for not only Burundi itself, but surrounding countries as well. Burundi erupted in violence in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza [BBC profile] began his campaign for a constitutionally unsupported [JURIST report] third term amid protests and a failed coup. The violence has continued to escalate [All Africa report], resulting in the murders of two instrumental military leaders for the government. Chair Dlamini-Zuma called for “utmost restraint” by all parties, and stated that :

This despicable act, and multiple other acts of violence recorded in recent months, illustrate yet again the gravity of the situation in Burundi – and the real risk of seeing a further deterioration with catastrophic consequences both for the country itself, and for the whole region.

The violence in Burundi has also been criticized [AP report] by the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power [official profile], who stated that the “horrible attacks” by both sides risked creating “a cycle of violence and a spiral of violence.”

The unrest in Burundi intensified after the Constitutional Court ruled that President Pierre Nkurunziza could seek a third term [JURIST report] in office without violating the country’s constitution, which states that presidents shall be universally elected into office for a term of five years and can renew the term once. Those opposing Nkurunziza’s bid for a third presidential term claim that both the constitution and the Arusha peace deal [agreement, PDF] that ended the 2005 civil war state that no one should be president for more than 10 years. Those backing Nkurunziza claim that this did not apply to him since he was not voted in for his first term but selected by lawmakers. The tension in Burundi has led to an escalation of violence that has severely affected supporters of both sides. In August, a human rights activist that opposed Nkurunziza was shot and severely wounded [JURIST report] while on his vehicle. That same month, one of the president’s greatest allies, Lieutenant Adolphe Nshimirimana, was killed [Al Jazeera report] after a rocket attack on his car.