Geneva, SWITZERLAND
UN investigators said Thursday they deeply regretted Burundi's expulsion of World Health Organization experts who were supporting the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Burundi
booted out the experts as the country prepares to go to the polls on Wednesday
to choose a new president, parliamentarians and local officials.
The UN
Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said in a statement that it "deeply
regretted the recent decision by the government to declare persona non grata
the country representative of WHO and three of its experts".
The
investigators, tasked by the United Nations Human Rights Council with probing
alleged violations and abuses in the country since 2015, also voiced their
concerns about the authorities' decision not to apply WHO recommendations on
physical distancing "to prevent the spread of the coronavirus during the
electoral campaign".
Burundi's
foreign ministry, in a letter to the WHO's Africa headquarters and seen by AFP
on Wednesday, said the UN agency's representative in Burundi and his three colleagues
"are declared persona non grata and as such, must leave the territory of
Burundi" by Friday.
A
Burundian official told AFP on condition of anonymity: "They are expelled
and the health minister has totally excluded WHO, accusing it of unacceptable interference
in its management of the coronavirus."
The
landlocked African country of some 11 million has officially registered 27
cases of Covid-19 and one death, according to the latest WHO figures.
The UN
commission said it was "alarmed by the numerous acts of violence and human
rights violations during the electoral campaign" and urged all sides to
step up efforts to find a peaceful resolution of election-related tensions.
The body
voiced its concern over an electoral process "marred by violent clashes between
members of the contending political parties and numerous arrests of political
opponents, while persons close to the ruling party continue to enjoy near total
impunity for their abuses".
The
commission said it was worried that the conduct of the elections could trigger
a "new and deeper cycle of political violence" once the results are
announced on June 4.
The
three-person UN commission was established in 2016 and is charged with
identifying alleged perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses in
Burundi with a view to ensuring full accountability.
The
country has been in crisis since 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for
a third term and was re-elected in a vote boycotted by most of the
opposition.
At least
1,200 people were killed and more than 400,000 displaced in violence between
April 2015 and May 2017 that the UN says was mostly carried out by state
security forces.
But in a surprise development, Nkurunziza announced in 2018 that he would not stand for election in 2020, confounding critics who accused him of working to extend his grip on power.
No comments:
Post a Comment