French Spanish

On the left below please find an article from CPNN, and on the right its discussion. Please note that links to the discussion no longer work directly. Instead, Use the following address http://cpnn-world.org/discussion/xxx.htm where xxx is the topic number in the failed address obtained when you click on the discussion. If this doesn't work, click here.

by program area by region by category by recency

United Nations and Culture of Peace Global Movement for a Culture of Peace Values, Attitudes, Actions

Rules of the Game Submit an Article Become a CPNN Reporter

	Burundi/Reconciliation - Truth Commission Elected amid Opposition Boycott an article by Hirondelle News Agency Arusha, December 4, 2014 (FH) – Burundi’s parliament on Monday elected the eleven members of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), but the opposition refused to take part in the vote. The TRC is to cast light on ethnic massacres that have scarred the country ever since independence. Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi (left) with (l to r) Archbishops Justin Welby, Henri Isingoma and Onesphore Rwaje. click on photo to enlarge “We boycotted the vote to protest against the creation of a TRC based only on what the ruling CNDD-FDD party wants,” said parliamentary opposition leader Charles Nditije in an interview with AFP. The CND-FDD of President Pierre Nkurunziza is mainly Hutu. “Normally, it takes two to reconcile,” added Nditije, saying that truth and reconciliation cannot take place without justice. The Burundian opposition and civil society criticize the TRC law for omitting the judicial element and stressing forgiveness, or for having included political personalities. Parliamentary speaker Pie Ntavyohanyuma nevertheless hailed the “historic” vote, according to AFP. The TRC has six Hutu members, four Tutsis and one Twa, elected by a simple majority. They were chosen from a list of 33 personalities selected from 725 candidates by a mixed commission from Burundi’s National Assembly and Senate. Out of the eleven members, four are women. The TRC President is Catholic bishop Jean-Louis Nahimana, a Hutu, while its Vice-President is Bernard Ntahoturi, Tutsi archbishop of the Anglican church in Burundi. Burundi has been independent since 1962 like neighbouring Rwanda. It has suffered a series of ethnic massacres and coups d'Etat, notably since 1972, followed by a long civil war (1993-2006) between Hutu rebels and the army. The army was dominated until recently by the Tutsi minority. Some 300,000 people were killed during the war. The TRC will have four years to establish the truth about mass crimes committed in the country between 1962 and 2008; identify and map mass graves; propose a reparations programme; and promote reconciliation and forgiveness. Neighbouring Rwanda, where an anti-Tutsi genocide was unleashed in 1994, has the same ethnic makeup as Burundi.		DISCUSSION Question(s) related to this article: Truth Commissions, Do they improve human rights? * * * * * LATEST READER COMMENT: The following is excerpted from an article by Ernesto Semán, professor at the University of Richmond in the U.S.   He looks at the recent torture report to the U.S. Senate in the light of the history of U.S. implication in the torture that took place in previous decades in Latin America.  As he points out, the torture is only the most recent expression of American policies that amount to a form of state terrorism. . . . instead of accepting the significance of the war on terror in undermining the rule of law, the report has served the Obama administration as another component of an ideological spinning wheel. . ...more.
This report was posted on December 20, 2014.