S/PV.7104 Security Council

Under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Burundi to participate in this meeting. On behalf of the Council, I welcome His Excellency Mr. Laurent Kavakure, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Burundi. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office in Burundi, to participate in this meeting. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite His Excellency Mr. Paul Seger, Permanent Representative of Switzerland and Chair of the Burundi configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2014/36, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Office in Burundi. I now give the floor to Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga. Mr. Onanga-Anyanga: It is a great pleasure, Sir, to see you as President of the Council and to see your country as a Council member for the next two years. Please allow me to congratulate you on your already impressive contribution to the work of this body. (spoke in French) Let me also warmly welcome His Excellency Mr. Laurent Kavakure, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Burundi, with whom I have had the privilege of working closely since I took office. I thank him profusely and convey once again my gratitude to the Government of Burundi for its warm welcome and our excellent relationship. They demonstrate, without doubt, the importance that Burundi attaches to the United Nations. (spoke in English) The Council has before it the comprehensive report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Burundi (S/2014/36). The report was informed by the strategic assessment mission that was conducted pursuant to resolution 2090 (2013). The findings of the mission and the final assessment by the Secretary-General are compelling. I shall therefore limit myself to a few comments. (spoke in French) I come to the Council today with my heart full of hope and optimism for Burundi’s future. I come to the Council emboldened by the echo of what we may now call the spirit of Kigobe, where the National Assembly of Burundi met from 19 to 20 December 2013 and the President brought together all political actors and representatives of Burundian civil society for national consultations on Burundi’s future constitution. The Burundian nation and international observers unanimously welcomed that great moment of harmony, which entrenched the virtues of dialogue and the search for consensus on major issues of national interest. For those who know a bit about Burundi, what happened at Kigobe was in line with the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi, which remains to this day a strong expression of Burundians’ desire to forge a common destiny. Since then, Burundi has continued its progress towards building a lasting peace and strengthening its democratic institutions. In particular, the country successfully held two elections in 2005 and 2010, and established national armed forces that form the bedrock of security throughout the country. Those forces are now the pride of Burundi, and their role in maintaining international peace and security and the sacrifices they have made in doing so inspire respect and admiration. However, I also come here in the awareness that, as far as our wonderful peacebuilding work in Burundi has come, it remains unfinished. That fact has been noted ​ by more people than just the Secretary-General. It is the conviction first and foremost of the Government and people of Burundi. It is indeed at the very heart of the efforts to build a consensual society that are expressed in several national policy documents, including the Vision Burundi 2025 and the second version of Strategic Framework for Growth and the Fight against Poverty, which Ambassador Paul Seger and all of Burundi’s development partners tirelessly support. The fragility and volatility of a number of key indicators indeed justify such commitment. Giving Burundi every chance to set its development process on a firm footing and win the fight against poverty is indeed vital to lasting peacebuilding and social cohesion. More recently, the Burundian political class met from 27 to 29 November 2013 in Bujumbura to evaluate for the first time the road map adopted by consensus at the workshop held from 11 to 13 March 2013. They recognized, without skirting the issue, that the climate of mistrust among the main political actors, the absence of a consensual process for revising the Constitution, intolerance and political violence involving, in particular, young people affiliated with certain political parties, and the limitations to the exercise of public freedoms were among the pressing challenges that had to be urgently addressed. You yourself, Mr. President, have taken the initiative to convene tomorrow, 29 January, an important thematic debate on the lessons to be drawn from war and the search for a permanent peace. I heed your warning that a poor management of collective memory can threaten the future peace and stability of nations. That warning applies to Burundi, where the process of taking ownership of the justice mechanisms transition remains unfinished. For all those reasons, the Secretary-General himself has endeavoured to raise awareness among Burundian authorities at the highest level of the need for sustained political support by the United Nations. The Secretary- General’s offer is aimed at supporting national efforts in the delicate transition towards enhanced political dialogue, respect for and the protection of the rights of all, and the establishment of strong democratic institutions, including through the upcoming 2015 elections. The Government is committed to ensuring that those elections are transparent, fair and peaceful. If they are well organized, the elections could mark the end of the transition in Burundi’s peacebuilding process. The peacebuilding priority plan that we jointly drafted and signed in December 2013 should facilitate the achievement of that important goal. The Secretary-General’s recommendation fully takes into account the desire for greater national ownership expressed by the Government of Burundi. However, it also relies on the assessment of the benchmarks that structure our peacebuilding efforts in Burundi, in agreement with the Government and in accordance with the relevant mandates of the Security Council. Finally, this recommendation also takes into account the fact that the United Nations country team, which should bear most of the responsibilities assigned to the United Nations Office in Burundi, may not be equipped in the short term to effectively undertake those important tasks. The same can be said of the role that regional and subregional African organizations could play. I welcome the efforts of the Government and of millions of Burundians who strive daily for a future Burundi that is more united, peaceful and prosperous. However, that task, as appreciated as it is, is not over and requires the support of the Security Council and the international community, in particular in a regional context that is constantly changing. I am pleased about the friendly dialogue that is continuing on that issue with the Burundian authorities so that the noble goals of peacebuilding and conflict prevention can unite and strengthen in a timely way the legitimate will for greater national ownership. Minister Kavakure will certainly be able to give us more information on the views of the Government of Burundi in that regard. (spoke in English) The Secretary-General has called upon Burundians to show visionary leadership going forward, particularly in view of the major challenges still ahead. I have no doubt that they will, and I know that the Council will remain at their side. Let us not tire of doing what is good for at the right time we will reap an abundant harvest if we do not give up. Of course, we must and can do that only with the full consent and support of the Government of Burundi. In closing, I would like to thank members of the Council for their outstanding support to Burundians and to me personally since I assumed my duties. I would also like to thank the Chair of the Burundi configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission, my dear friend Ambassador Paul Seger, for the excellent collaboration that we have so effectively developed over the past year. In him, Burundi has a strong advocate. Please allow me to extend my thanks and appreciation to the Government of Burundi for their hospitality, cooperation and willingness to work with me for the advancement of peace in Burundi. I will be ever indebted to the Secretary-General for the opportunity to assist him in the pursuit of world peace and security. Last but not least, I am most grateful to my colleagues, both in Bujumbura and here at Headquarters, for their invaluable support.

I thank Mr. Onanga-Anyanga for his briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Seger.

Like Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, I would first like to warmly congratulate you, Mr. President, on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council. As I have the privilege of knowing you personally, I know that you do not like Permanent Representatives to use a written text so this time I will not use such a text. On the one hand, I would like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for his briefing and to simply recall that the report of the Secretary- General on the issue of Burundi (S/2014/36) is fully relevant. Yesterday, I also submitted my own report to the Security Council. I do not wish to come back to that now but would just like to make two or three additional comments. Before doing so, I would once again like to thank Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, who is not only an excellent Special Representative but also a friend. I think that our success to date in building peace in Burundi is certainly also due to the fact that, as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the Peacebuilding Commission, we have worked hand in hand and, I hope, will continue to do so. But that success is thanks, too, to the excellent cooperation with the Government of Burundi. Here, I would also like to thank my neighbour on my right, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Burundi, with whom I have truly had the privilege of having an excellent relationship. I would like to step back a little. Last June, I wrote that the country had made considerable, or exceptional progress. What we must do now — and it is even more important at this stage — is to stay the course and to maintain what I call the gains of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi and of the Geneva Partners Conference of October 2012. If we stay that course, I am sure that we will succeed and come out as winners. But, as in a marathon, the last kilometres are always the most difficult and I believe that we are now in our final kilometre. That is why it is so important to stay the course. Here, I would like to mention three elements that I think are particularly important in that regard. As Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga has already said, an important aspect is the constitutional review that is currently under way. It is truly crucial for us, the Government and the country to uphold that spirit of consensus and also of the Arusha accords. We must focus primarily on the parts of the Constitution on which there is consensus. Moreover, the Burundi configuration wrote a letter to the President of the National Assembly precisley to encourage him along those lines. That is my first piece of advice. My second piece of advice, which the Special Representative of the Secretary-General also mentioned, concerns the 2015 elections. There, I think that we are also on the right track. The opposition parties with whom I spoke are ready to take part in the 2015 elections and not to make the same mistake that they committed in 2010. However, precisely in order to enable everyone to participate in the electoral process fairly and openly, the environment and the political and legal framework must be truly fair, open and transparent. There, as Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga said, with regard to the Imbonerakure youth league, the unrest that sometimes occurs must come to an end. Thirdly, another aspect that I also believe to be important for peacebuilding and unity is the issue of land and other property. As the Council probably knows, a new law that gave the National Commission for Land and Other Property new powers was adopted on 31 December. All that, to put it in a sentence, in the context of restoring the property of those who were deprived of it in 1972 and later. It is important that justice be rendered but also that it be done in a fair and just way that respects the principles of reconciliation and peace. Everyone told me that there is a significant ethnic connotation to that dimension. That is truly something that we must bear in mind. It is part of what the Arusha accords achieved. I myself have said, and the President of the Republic has reiterated — it is perhaps a rather common saying — that there is no peace without development and no development without peace. In that context, when I spoke with the development banks — the African Development Bank and the World Bank, with whom I spoke in order to mobilize resources — the two banks also told me that they have some concerns about the country’s future in the context of the investments that they have made and continue to make in the country. A political commission like ours making such an analysis is one thing but if a bank, which by definition is not a political institution, reaches the same conclusion, I think that that is something that should make us listen. What is also interesting is that the representatives of the banks told me that the political support of the United Nations, for them, is an assurance for the investment that they are making in the well-being of the country. Something that we should also perhaps bear in mind is that it is really good for the country for economic and social reasons that it be supported by the United Nations. I come back to the image of the marathon that I mentioned earlier. When I was younger and my knees would allow it, I ran half-marathons, not full marathons. I remember that during the first one I ran, it was very hot. I reached the twentieth kilometre and could go no further. At one point, a friend came out of the crowd and accompanied me for the last two or three kilometres, which made it possible for me to finish the race. I think that we are in exactly the same situation with respect to Burundi. We still need some support to finish the race, and I am sure that with that support we are all going to be winners. Obviously, when it comes to the principle of national ownership, as the Special Representative said, Burundi has every right to demand that the mandate of the United Nations Office in Burundi come to an end. But if that is the case, I would urge everyone in the Chamber, Burundi and the Security Council that this outcome and transition be undertaken in a way that ensures the continuity of United Nations support. If I understand correctly, the Government wants to continue to work with the United Nations, but in another form. Therefore, let us make sure that the transition occurs in a way that would allow the United Nations to take up those duties through the country team and other functions. Instead of creating artificial deadlines now, in my opinion we need to think about duties. What do we need to do to allow the United Nations to take up new duties in a smooth and unproblematic way? I would just like to tell the Council that, I, as Chair, and the configuration remain at the country’s disposal, if it would like more support. However, I would also like to tell the Security Council that we cannot replace a permanent political presence of the United Nations on the ground. Let us be aware of that fact, and of the configuration’s limitations. I would like to conclude by saying that I share the optimism expressed by Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga about the future of the country. We do not need very much for things to move in the right direction. And in the spirit of prevention and of concluding the peacebuilding successfully, we must maintain that support. I think that, with that, we shall succeed.

I thank Mr. Seger for his briefing. I now give the floor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Burundi.

It is a pleasure for me to convey, on behalf of the Government of Burundi and myself, the sincere greetings of the President of the Republic, Mr. Pierre Nkurunziza, to all members of the Security Council. I have been asked in particular to convey the President’s best wishes to the Secretary-General and all members of the United Nations system, and his hope that 2014 will be a year of good health for the representatives and their respective families and of success for all the projects they undertake. I would be remiss were I not to express my gratitude to the President of the Security Council and the Chair of the Burundi configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission for their open cooperation with our Government and all their efforts in the context of peacebuilding in Burundi. We would also like to acknowledge the United Nations Office in Burundi (BNUB) and in particular the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, for his praiseworthy contribution to peacebuilding in Burundi. On the occasion of the presentation of the report of the Secretary-General on Burundi (S/2014/36), we must come to a decision on the future of our cooperation with a view to strengthening the achievements in the areas of democracy and peace in our country. I would like to share some considerations on this item with Council members. I should like briefly to summarize the mission’s history. The Peacebuilding Commission was created by resolution 1645 (2005) adopted on 20 December 2005. Burundi, with other countries emerging from conflict, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, has been subject to the Commission’s peacebuilding programme since 23 June 2006. A United Nations office tasked with monitoring that programme, the Peacebuilding Support Office, and the Peacebuilding Fund, established to finance related projects, were also created. Since then, the Office in charge of the programme in New York and the United Nations Office in Burundi  — originally the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB)  — have worked with the Burundian Government and other local and international partners in many priority areas, including good governance, the strengthening of the rule of law, the rebuilding of communities, land issues, the mobilization and coordination of regional integration, and the gender dimension. That work has been carried out through various commitments, informal and formal meetings, and on-site visits. The follow-up of the Burundi peacebuilding programme was also undertaken by the Burundi configuration. The chairmanship of the configuration was held first by Norway in 2007, then Sweden in 2008, and by Switzerland since 2009. The gradual drawdown of the United Nations Operation in Burundi was the result of a compromise between the United Nations and Burundi, in light of the fact that the political, social and security situations were increasingly improving. It was therefore time to transform the mission into the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi with a mandate to build peace and strengthen national capacities. The transformation of BINUB into BNUB, with a light footprint, for a first reporting period beginning 1 January 2011 was, as we all know, motivated by a political, social and security situation that was also becoming increasingly manageable. It therefore followed that there was a need to continue building peace and combatting poverty, which are the principal enemies of Burundian society. The objective of the Office was to develop, together with the Government, a series of criteria for the future transformation of the United Nations Office in Burundi into a United Nations country team and to report regularly to the Security Council on the progress achieved in that regard. On 24 January 2013, the Government of Burundi called on the international community from this Chamber (see S/PV.6909) to take into account the significant progress made by our country in many areas and to move to a new framework for cooperation with the United Nations in carrying out the gradual transformation of BNUB into a new United Nations country team in Burundi. The Government of Burundi believed that a period of 12 months was more than enough to carry out the transformation. However, despite the fact that the Secretary-General’s set of benchmarks of 10 May 2012 allowed for the beginning of the gradual transition of BNUB into a country team, the Security Council decided to extend BNUB’s mandate for a second time until 15 February 2014, pursuant to resolution 2090 (2013) of 13 February 2013. The Government of Burundi has cooperated fully with the United Nations in the thorough implementation of resolution 2090 (2013), thereby complying with all the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations in general and of its Article 25 in particular. We transmitted a note dated 16 August 2013, to the Secretary-General reiterating the desire of the Government of the Republic of Burundi, in the view of the progress achieved in all areas, as assessed against the benchmarks for Burundi’s peacebuilding programme, to see BNUB’s mandate come to an end on 15 February 2014, with responsibilities transferred to the United Nations country team in Burundi, in accordance with resolution 2090 (2013), of 13 February 2013. The letter of the Secretary-General to the President of the Republic of Burundi dated 26 December 2013, referring to the talks held in Paris on the side-lines of the Elysée Summit for Peace and Security in Africa, on 6 December 2013, brought the following points to his attention: “Following consultations, members of the Security Council said they were reassured by the dialogue under way between the two parties seeking a solution that would adequately combine both the desire for greater national ownership with the need to provide optimal support to national efforts so as to ensure together the success of the final stage of the peacebuilding process and the strengthening of democratic institutions. Such an approach would allow for the gradual transition from the BNUB presence towards activities focused primarily on development assistance and carried out by the United Nations country team.” In his letter to the Secretary-General dated 31 December 2013, the President of the Republic welcomed the open collaboration that exists and will always exist, as well as the various forms of support Burundi enjoys and will continue to benefit from through the United Nations. He nevertheless reaffirmed the position of Burundi to uphold resolution 2090 (2013), which sets the end-date of BNUB’s mandate as 15 February 2014, and provides for the subsequent transfer of responsibilities to the United Nations country team. I would now like to make some comments on the report before the Council today, beginning with the democratic process. As indicated in the Secretary- General’s set of benchmarks of 10 May 2012 and in paragraph 6 of the report before the Council today, inclusive political dialogue between the political parties and the Government continued and will continue in the framework of the first theme of the new peacebuilding priority plan, namely, social cohesion and national dialogue. The Government endorses the recommendation in paragraph 17 that electoral assistance be provided to Burundi until 2015. The envisioned delivery of that assistance could very well be carried out by a United Nations country team in collaboration with other partners mentioned in the report. In our view, the link between the elections of 2015 and prolonging BNUB’s mandate is not well established, given that there are other mechanisms, including election observations, that will involve a team of United Nations observers in the run-up to, during and after the elections. With regard to part B of the report, on security and stability, the Government is of the view that development aid is precisely what is needed to respond to the problems of crime and armed robbery resulting from the poor economic conditions and high unemployment that affect a large part of the Burundian population, as the report correctly stipulates. With respect to paragraphs 19 to 23, the Government is of the view that the professionalization of the defence and security services is a long-term task, and thanks the United Nations and other, bilateral, partners for the multifaceted support provided to date in this area. We view this as an area in which cooperation could continue with the country team and leading bilateral partners. In that regard, the greatly appreciated presence of Burundian troops in peacekeeping operations in Haiti, the Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire and, in particular, Somalia and the Central African Republic, is an eloquent illustration that substantial progress has been made in the context of the professionalization of our defence and security forces. We are still, nonetheless, far from perfect. This is a long-term task that must continue with all of our development partners involved in this area of cooperation. With regard to transitional justice, addressed in part C of the report, it is noted in paragraphs 24 and 25 that the Government is engaged in the process of establishing a truth and reconciliation commission. But for us, this is a matter of such great importance that we must give it the necessary time to become operational, once we have prepared the hearts of the Burundian people. In that regard, we thank BNUB for the workshops it held on this topic for representatives of the National Assembly and Senators in April and September 2013. With regard to governance and institutional strengthening, as addressed in part D of the report, the Government of Burundi expresses its deep appreciation for the support provided to institutions involved in fighting corruption, the Office of the Ombudsman and other local partners involved in the fight against corruption, on the one hand, as well as for the workshops held to raise awareness among civil society organizations, Government officials and police officers and the army, on the other. Regarding the developments related to the Commission nationale des terres et autres biens, the Government believes that this is a work in progress and that the outstanding issues can be considered under the fourth theme of the new peacebuilding priority plan, that is, the peaceful resolution of land disputes. It should also be emphasized that the membership of the Commission is inclusive and balanced along ethic and regional lines. With regard to the rule of law, as addressed in part E of the report, it is clear that this is an ideal, which no country in the world has ever perfected. In that respect, the Government has undertaken a great number of initiatives, including the National Conference on Justice, the strategic plan of the Conseil supérieur de la magistrature on judicial ethics and the revision of the prison legal framework and corrections policy, all with a view to improving the Burundian justice system. With regard to human rights, and the paragraphs of part F of the report, here too, the Government recognizes that much progress has been made in the promotion and protection of human rights. But challenges certainly remain, and the Government of Burundi recognizes that. That is why the third theme of the new peacebuilding priority plan has been selected to continue to support, in particular, the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, whose performance has been praised by a variety of partners. As for regional integration, it is for us a political choice inscribed in letters of gold in our two main development policy instruments: Vision Burundi 2025, which is a development planning tool that will guide policies and strategies until 2025, and the second version of its Strategic Framework for Growth and the Fight against Poverty, which is anchored in Vision Burundi 2025 and represents the federative context of all sectoral and cross-sectoral policies. With regard to economic and social development, Burundi is aware that it cannot achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the target date. Considerable progress has been made, however, especially in the social sectors, such as education and health. In any event, development aid is essential to accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. To that end, in July and October 2013 Burundi organized sectoral conferences with its development partners so as to ensure that the promises made in Geneva in 2012 are followed up by effective engagement. With respect to the issue of the resettlement of returnees and displaced persons, Burundi is striving with great commitment, alongside its partners, to make it a success. To that end, we have developed a national strategy for the socioeconomic reintegration of conflict-affected populations. As to issues related to peacebuilding, as addressed under section C of part III of the report, the United Nations country team in Burundi will simply apply the peacebuilding priority plan, which is the outcome of a highly participatory and inclusive process involving all key actors, including the Government, civil society organizations, the international community and the United Nations system in Burundi. It is important to note that in 2013, in order to consolidate peace and security, the Government launched two very important national programmes: the national security strategy and a national education and patriotic training programme. Peace and security are now a reality in Burundi, and strengthening them will remain a top priority for our Government because they are the foundation of and the appropriate framework for achieving our political, social and economic agenda. With regard to the observations and recommendations set out in the report, the Government of Burundi takes note of the advice, contained from paragraph 66 onwards, concerning the conduct of fair, inclusive and transparent elections. In this regard and as already mentioned, the dialogue meetings among politicians, organized in March 2013, as well as the constructive atmosphere that prevailed during the consultations of 19 and 20 December 2013, are eloquent expressions of the manifest intention of the Government to ensure the success of the 2015 elections. We organized the 2005 and 2010 elections to the full satisfaction of the national and international communities, and there is no doubt that we shall do even better in 2015. Again with respect to observations and recommendations, paragraph 75 — regarding the Secretary-General’s proposal to end the BNUB mandate on 15 February 2015 by extending it for an additional 12 months — has attracted the particular attention of our Government, which had requested a transitional period of six months in order to allow for the dismantling of BNUB and the gradual transfer of its responsibilities to the United Nations country team in Burundi. In the spirit of our harmonious collaboration and open cooperation with the Secretary-General, and after extensive consultations with various stakeholders, the Government of Burundi submits to the Security Council the following proposals. First, we request the Council to adopt a resolution closing the United Nations Office in Burundi pursuant to resolution 2090 (2013). Secondly, we request the Secretary-General to determine the practical arrangements for the closure of BNUВ and the gradual transfer of responsibilities to the United Nations country team in Burundi, with periodic — perhaps quarterly — progress reports, before the end of 2014. Thirdly, we request the Secretary-General to ensure that the new United Nations country team in Burundi is up and running by January 2015. Fourthly, we request the Secretary-General to consider the establishment, immediately after the closing of BNUB, of a team of electoral observers to be deployed before, during and after elections scheduled in Burundi in 2015. We solemnly call on the Security Council to support and understand our position concerning the end of the BNUB mandate, the objective of which is to close, in harmony and in concert, a very successful mission that will remain a good mоdel for post-conflict situations. In conclusion, we reiterate our deep appreciation for all the support that our country has enjoyed and will continue to enjoy from the United Nations system on our long road to development.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.