10-27-2017, 10:48 PM
*** 28-Oct-17 World View -- Burundi's Hutu government leaves International Criminal Court to avoid crimes against humanity charges
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Burundi's Hutu government leaves International Criminal Court to avoid war crimes charges
****
![[Image: g170906b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170906b.jpg)
Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. Over 400,000 people have fled to other countries to escape the Burundi government violence (MSF)
Burundi on Friday completed its formal withdrawal from membership in
the International Criminal Court (ICC), one year after the government
informed the ICC that it would do so.
Burundi officials are saying that the reason for the withdrawal is
that the court is racially biased against Africans, since of the 10
preliminary examinations that have proceeded to full investigations,
nine have involved conflicts in Africa. But six of those nine cases
were investigations requested by African nations, while two of them,
Libya and Sudan (both considered to be Arab countries, but not Black
African countries) were referred by the UN Security Council.
Both South Africa and The Gambia also filed plans last year to
withdraw from the ICC, citing the same bias against Africa, but both
countries later took back their withdrawals.
It's much more likely that the reason for Burundi's withdrawal from
the ICC is that one UN report after another has found that Burundi's
government, with Hutu president Pierre Nkurunziza, has repeatedly
committed crimes against humanity, mostly against members of Tutsi
tribe, the historic enemies of the Hutu tribe.
In 2016, there was an initial United Nations report on Burundi, based
on interviews with more than 500 people among the over 500,000 who had
fled the country from the violence. The violations included torture,
rape, beatings, arbitrary jailings and summary executions.
Nkurunziza's reaction to that report was to ban the United Nations
from Burundi, and to withdraw Burundi's membership from the
International Criminal Court (ICC).
The latest report, issued six weeks ago, focused on the Imbonerakure,
the youth wing of Nkurunziza's political party. The word Imbonerakure
means "visionaries," and for these kids, being "visionary" means
raping women and beating people with iron bars. Reports in 2015
indicated that Nkurunziza's police would select targets in the
opposition, and would give kids in the Imbonerakure police uniforms,
along with instructions to go to the homes of the targets, kill the
men with iron bars, rape the women, and then kill the women and
children.
Burundi officials were celebrating on Friday on the "great
achievement" of withdrawing from the ICC.
Burundi's Justice Minister Aimée Laurentine Kanyana said:
<QUOTE>"Without any problem, in total peace and security, we
have been able to leave ICC. Let's rejoice!"<END QUOTE>
A presidential spokesman said:
<QUOTE>"The ICC has shown itself to be a political instrument
and weapon used by the West to enslave [African states]. This is
a great victory for Burundi because it has defended its
sovereignty and national pride."<END QUOTE>
Members of Burundi's government now believe that the countries war
crimes and crimes against humanity are now beyond the reach of the
ICC, but ICC officials disagree:
<QUOTE>"Burundi’s withdrawal does not affect the jurisdiction
of the court with respect to crimes alleged to have been committed
during the time it was a state party, namely up until 27 October
2017."<END QUOTE>
A spokesman for Amnesty International said: "The Burundian government
has made a cynical attempt to evade justice by taking the
unprecedented step of withdrawing from the ICC. But perpetrators,
including members of the security forces, cannot so easily shirk their
alleged responsibility for crimes under international law committed
since 2015."
Overall, the violence in Burundi has claimed between 500 and 2,000
lives, according to differing tolls provided by the UN or NGOs and
more than 400,000 Burundians have fled abroad. Iwacu (Burundi) and Standard Media (Kenya) and Amnesty International and Xinhua
Related Articles
****
**** Burundi to amend constitution to let Nkurunziza hold power until 2034
****
The violence and crimes against humanity began in 2015, when president
Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would run for a third term, in
violation of the constitution. Nkurunziza did run, and won the
election as president. There were peaceful protests in opposition to
Nkurunziza, and that's when Nkurunziza began his crimes against
humanity, targeting the opposition.
Now Nkurunziza plans to amend the constitution so that he can continue
to hold power. Under the planned amendments, he'll be able to hold
power until 2034.
Burundi's last generational Crisis war was the war the 1994 Rwanda
genocide, in which Hutus tortured, raped and massacred Tutsis, killing
over 800,000 in 100 days. Three countries, Rwanda, Burundi and
Uganda, were all participants in the Hutu-Rwanda genocide. The Hutu
and Tutsi tribes have been historic enemies for centuries, and have
conducted extremely brutal wars with each other, the most well-known
of which is the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Today, all three countries are in a generational Awakening era, which
follows a familiar generational pattern. When a country's
generational crisis war is a civil war between two ethnic groups
within the country, then in the decades following the end of the war,
especially during the next generational Awakening era, the ethnic
group that won the war and took power begins new violence, atrocities,
rapes, and arbitrary jailings and executions against the ethnic group
that lost the war.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, we've seen this time
after time, in Syria, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Burundi, Thailand,
Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Eritrea, and other
countries, where leaders in generational Awakening and Unraveling eras
use arbitrary jailings, violence and atrocities to keep the opposition
ethnic group out of power. Over a period of years, the violence
worsens until it turns into a full-scale generational crisis civil war
when the next generational crisis era arrives.
The leaders of all three countries involved in the 1994 genocide are
using force and violence to remain in power. Uganda's president
Yoweri Museveni, 73 years old, allied with the Tutsis, took part in
many of these gruesome atrocities and slaughter. The current
president of Rwanda is Paul Kagame, a Tutsi, also taking extraordinary
measures to stay in power.
President Pierre Nkurunziza was not just a Hutu soldier in the 1994
Rwanda genocide. He was also a Hutu militia leader, and undoubtedly
was responsible for many atrocities against Tutsis during the massive
slaughter of Tutsis. So from the point of view of Tutsis, you have a
hated Hutu militia leader responsible to atrocities and slaughter of
Tutsis, and of course they're going be furious and want revenge.
The people of Burundi finally settled the 1994 genocide in 2005, with
all sides signing the "Arusha Accords" that set down rules for how the
country would be governed. The Arusha Accords specified that a
president could only hold power for two terms. They also specified
that the constitution could not be amended.
So now a militia leader from a tribe of vicious war criminals, Pierre
Nkurunziza, is using extreme violence to stay in power illegally, and
prevent his political opponents, the Tutsis from taking power. This
will not end well. Iwacu (Burundi) and AFP
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, Hutu, Tutsi,
International Criminal Court, ICC, Libya, Sudan,
South Africa, The Gambia, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Paul Kagame, Uganda, Yoweri Museveni,
Imbonerakure, Aimée Laurentine Kanyana, Arusha Accords
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Burundi's Hutu government leaves International Criminal Court to avoid war crimes charges
- Burundi to amend constitution to let Nkurunziza hold power until 2034
****
**** Burundi's Hutu government leaves International Criminal Court to avoid war crimes charges
****
Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. Over 400,000 people have fled to other countries to escape the Burundi government violence (MSF)
Burundi on Friday completed its formal withdrawal from membership in
the International Criminal Court (ICC), one year after the government
informed the ICC that it would do so.
Burundi officials are saying that the reason for the withdrawal is
that the court is racially biased against Africans, since of the 10
preliminary examinations that have proceeded to full investigations,
nine have involved conflicts in Africa. But six of those nine cases
were investigations requested by African nations, while two of them,
Libya and Sudan (both considered to be Arab countries, but not Black
African countries) were referred by the UN Security Council.
Both South Africa and The Gambia also filed plans last year to
withdraw from the ICC, citing the same bias against Africa, but both
countries later took back their withdrawals.
It's much more likely that the reason for Burundi's withdrawal from
the ICC is that one UN report after another has found that Burundi's
government, with Hutu president Pierre Nkurunziza, has repeatedly
committed crimes against humanity, mostly against members of Tutsi
tribe, the historic enemies of the Hutu tribe.
In 2016, there was an initial United Nations report on Burundi, based
on interviews with more than 500 people among the over 500,000 who had
fled the country from the violence. The violations included torture,
rape, beatings, arbitrary jailings and summary executions.
Nkurunziza's reaction to that report was to ban the United Nations
from Burundi, and to withdraw Burundi's membership from the
International Criminal Court (ICC).
The latest report, issued six weeks ago, focused on the Imbonerakure,
the youth wing of Nkurunziza's political party. The word Imbonerakure
means "visionaries," and for these kids, being "visionary" means
raping women and beating people with iron bars. Reports in 2015
indicated that Nkurunziza's police would select targets in the
opposition, and would give kids in the Imbonerakure police uniforms,
along with instructions to go to the homes of the targets, kill the
men with iron bars, rape the women, and then kill the women and
children.
Burundi officials were celebrating on Friday on the "great
achievement" of withdrawing from the ICC.
Burundi's Justice Minister Aimée Laurentine Kanyana said:
<QUOTE>"Without any problem, in total peace and security, we
have been able to leave ICC. Let's rejoice!"<END QUOTE>
A presidential spokesman said:
<QUOTE>"The ICC has shown itself to be a political instrument
and weapon used by the West to enslave [African states]. This is
a great victory for Burundi because it has defended its
sovereignty and national pride."<END QUOTE>
Members of Burundi's government now believe that the countries war
crimes and crimes against humanity are now beyond the reach of the
ICC, but ICC officials disagree:
<QUOTE>"Burundi’s withdrawal does not affect the jurisdiction
of the court with respect to crimes alleged to have been committed
during the time it was a state party, namely up until 27 October
2017."<END QUOTE>
A spokesman for Amnesty International said: "The Burundian government
has made a cynical attempt to evade justice by taking the
unprecedented step of withdrawing from the ICC. But perpetrators,
including members of the security forces, cannot so easily shirk their
alleged responsibility for crimes under international law committed
since 2015."
Overall, the violence in Burundi has claimed between 500 and 2,000
lives, according to differing tolls provided by the UN or NGOs and
more than 400,000 Burundians have fled abroad. Iwacu (Burundi) and Standard Media (Kenya) and Amnesty International and Xinhua
Related Articles
- UN: Burundi's Hutu government attacks on Tutsis are crimes against humanity (07-Sep-2017)
- Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza follows Syria's Bashar al-Assad on path to genocide (13-Oct-2016)
- Is the ICC racially biased against Africans? (24-Oct-2016)
****
**** Burundi to amend constitution to let Nkurunziza hold power until 2034
****
The violence and crimes against humanity began in 2015, when president
Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would run for a third term, in
violation of the constitution. Nkurunziza did run, and won the
election as president. There were peaceful protests in opposition to
Nkurunziza, and that's when Nkurunziza began his crimes against
humanity, targeting the opposition.
Now Nkurunziza plans to amend the constitution so that he can continue
to hold power. Under the planned amendments, he'll be able to hold
power until 2034.
Burundi's last generational Crisis war was the war the 1994 Rwanda
genocide, in which Hutus tortured, raped and massacred Tutsis, killing
over 800,000 in 100 days. Three countries, Rwanda, Burundi and
Uganda, were all participants in the Hutu-Rwanda genocide. The Hutu
and Tutsi tribes have been historic enemies for centuries, and have
conducted extremely brutal wars with each other, the most well-known
of which is the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Today, all three countries are in a generational Awakening era, which
follows a familiar generational pattern. When a country's
generational crisis war is a civil war between two ethnic groups
within the country, then in the decades following the end of the war,
especially during the next generational Awakening era, the ethnic
group that won the war and took power begins new violence, atrocities,
rapes, and arbitrary jailings and executions against the ethnic group
that lost the war.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, we've seen this time
after time, in Syria, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Burundi, Thailand,
Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Eritrea, and other
countries, where leaders in generational Awakening and Unraveling eras
use arbitrary jailings, violence and atrocities to keep the opposition
ethnic group out of power. Over a period of years, the violence
worsens until it turns into a full-scale generational crisis civil war
when the next generational crisis era arrives.
The leaders of all three countries involved in the 1994 genocide are
using force and violence to remain in power. Uganda's president
Yoweri Museveni, 73 years old, allied with the Tutsis, took part in
many of these gruesome atrocities and slaughter. The current
president of Rwanda is Paul Kagame, a Tutsi, also taking extraordinary
measures to stay in power.
President Pierre Nkurunziza was not just a Hutu soldier in the 1994
Rwanda genocide. He was also a Hutu militia leader, and undoubtedly
was responsible for many atrocities against Tutsis during the massive
slaughter of Tutsis. So from the point of view of Tutsis, you have a
hated Hutu militia leader responsible to atrocities and slaughter of
Tutsis, and of course they're going be furious and want revenge.
The people of Burundi finally settled the 1994 genocide in 2005, with
all sides signing the "Arusha Accords" that set down rules for how the
country would be governed. The Arusha Accords specified that a
president could only hold power for two terms. They also specified
that the constitution could not be amended.
So now a militia leader from a tribe of vicious war criminals, Pierre
Nkurunziza, is using extreme violence to stay in power illegally, and
prevent his political opponents, the Tutsis from taking power. This
will not end well. Iwacu (Burundi) and AFP
Related Articles
- Generational history of Hutu and Tutsi tribes (30-Apr-2015)
- Uganda lawmakers throw fists and chairs at each other over Museveni's power grab (28-Sep-2017)
- Rwanda's president Kagame becomes another leader refusing to leave office (19-Nov-2015)
- Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza follows Syria's Bashar al-Assad on path to genocide (13-Oct-2016)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, Hutu, Tutsi,
International Criminal Court, ICC, Libya, Sudan,
South Africa, The Gambia, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Paul Kagame, Uganda, Yoweri Museveni,
Imbonerakure, Aimée Laurentine Kanyana, Arusha Accords
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
