Burundi • Humanitarian Bi-Monthly report Situation Report #04 Date/Time 28 May 2009 This report was issued by Burundi office. It covers the period from 11 to 24 May 2009. The next report will be issued on or around 9 June 2009. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES - MSF prepares the phase out of its emergency nutritional operation in Kirundo Province - Repatriation from last Burundian camp in Rwanda - New refugee camp in Bwagiriza I. Situation Overview The President of Burundi has officially requested the support (logistical, technical, financial and moral) of the United Nations for the preparation and the organisation of the 2010 elections. Since March, doctors have been strike over their salaries. Developments in South Kivu and the forthcoming operation Kimia II against FDLR, are not expected to have a major impact on Burundi. The IACP contingency plan remains valid and will be updated in September. II. Humanitarian Needs and Response Health MSF is preparing to phase out its emergency nutrition programme in the Kirundo province as it expects the situation to improve as the harvests ongoing. MSF has also noted that children being referred to its nutritional centres are not as severely malnourished as when it started its emergency programme. Since February 9th, 2009; over 480 children were admitted to the nutritional stabilisation centre because of acute severe malnutrition with medical complications; some 28 children were lost because their situation was too critical when they arrived at the stabilisation centre. During this emergency nutrition programme, MSF found that 58% of the children admitted had oedemas and systematic testing of incoming patients also showed that 53.2% also had malaria. To date, close to 50 children suffering from acute severe malnutrition are admitted daily, MSF hopes that number will be brought down to 30 thanks to increased food availability as a result of the harvest season. This improvement however, will depend not only, on the levels of food production but also on the capacity of provincial health centres to treat malnourished children, as well as a regular supply of plumpy nut and of food rations for parents/relatives accompanying the malnourished children to the health centres. It is worth noting that, as we report, food rations for relatives accompanying the malnourished children were made available recently but it has now been 4 to 5 weeks since take home plumpy nut rations were distributed. The MSF withdrawal plan follows the schedule below: o June 5: last day of the children transfer by MSF vehicles of the health centres towards the nutritional stabilisation centre o 10 to 12 June: transfer of the children from the stabilization centre towards the paediatrics service of the Kirundo hospital o 15 to 25 June: support of MSF to paediatrics service of the Kirundo with a minimum staffing o June 26: closure of base MSF in Kirundo Food Security Although some areas of the country (north and north-east) were able to begin harvesting beans one month early (June 2009), prices are still high on the market. A study at Ngozi market revealed that commodity prices are still high. Beans are at 550BIF/kg, rice at 1,100BIF/kg, sweet potatoes at approximately 175BIF/kg, cassava flour at 500BIF/kg and maize flour at 500BIF/kg; while the revenue of farmers living by casual labour is 500 BIF/day/capita. Furthermore, the next harvest could be slightly jeopardized by heavy rains as reported The mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors. during this month of May. A Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) for the agricultural season 2009B is planned for the beginning of June 2009. During the reporting period, WFP continued assisting the most vulnerable people through school feeding, returnees/refugees feeding and nutrition programmes. WFP with its partners have distributed 1,688mt of food to 104,291 beneficiaries. Repatriation Repatriation from last Burundian refugee camp in Rwanda During the reporting period, the first convoy of 529 Burundian refugees from Kigeme refugee camp, the last Burundian refugee camp in Rwanda, arrived through Kanyaru Border. Repatriates were transferred to Mugano transit centre, before being transported to their communes of origins. Kigeme will be closed at the end of May. Repatriation Statistics In all, between 11 and 24 May, 2,963 returnees arrived in Burundi, including 529 from Rwanda and 394 from Mtabila and 2,040 from Old Settlements in Tanzania. Since the beginning of this year, 8,998 Burundian refugees have returned, including 8,200 from Tanzania (4,814 from the Old Settlements and 3,386 from Mtabila), 741 from Rwanda, and 57 who returned from elsewhere. Congolese Refugees The new refugee camp in Bwagiriza (Ruyigi province) received a first convoy of 133 Congolese refugees divided into 33 households, from Songore transit centre (Muyinga) on 20 May. A second convoy arrived from Bujumbura with 232 refugees. The Congolese refugee camps in Kinama (Gasorwe) and in Musasa have reached the maximum reception capacity that complies with UNHCR refugee camp standards. The Bwagiriza camp has a capacity of 8,500 persons. So far, transfers from Bujumbura to the camps have been on a relatively low level in 2009, with 589 persons (212 families) transferred between 1 January and 27 May, i.e. less than 120 persons/month. Protection and Human rights On [13 May], the HRS received a copy of a letter addressed to a number of national and international stakeholders, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, by a magistrate of Bujumbura Mairie’s Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI). In his letter, the latter states that he was kidnapped and assaulted by unidentified individuals wearing police uniforms on [7 May] and had recently, along with two other magistrates received death threats in connection with the acquittal of Alexis Sinduhije, the leader of the Mouvement pour la Solidarité et la Démocratie (MSD). Meanwhile, Burundi’s Magistrate Union (SYMABU) issued a statement on the same day indicating that it would seek the support of President Nkurunziza and the Higher Judicial Council to guarantee the security of all magistrates. This week, the HRS continued to receive reports of violations of political freedoms. On [6 May], six alleged FNL party members were detained by the Police Nationale du Burundi (PNB) in Kiremba Commune, Ngozi Province, after holding a meeting. Local authorities claimed that those detained had failed to provide due notification of the event, which they viewed as a political meeting. On [9 May], a meeting of UPD Zigamibanga was banned by the local administrator of Muyinga. In a separate event, credible sources informed HROs that, also on [9 May], two secondary school pupils affiliated to MSD were arbitrarily arrested and then taken into police custody by a local official in Mwaro Commune and Province. They were released on [10 May] after the PNB Provincial Commissioner intervened. Allegations of violations of the right to physical integrity perpetrated by members of the PNB were also reported. On [6 May], the PNB’s chef de poste in Nyamurenza Commune, Ngozi Province, allegedly beat and injured two men. To date, authorities have reportedly taken no action. In Kayanza Commune and Province, a man was reportedly subjected to ill treatment by a PNB officer. The victim was taken to hospital to be examined and the case has been referred to the prosecutor’s office. BINUB held a number of events this past week as part of its commitment to promoting human rights in Burundi. Three awareness raising sessions were held [12 to 14 May] in Musigati and Rugazi communes of Bubanza Province, and in Busoni Commune, Kirundo Province. Among the 147 participants were senior State representatives, local officials, and 25 women. Topics discussed included procedures for bringing cases to court as well as ways of tackling impunity. From [13 to 15 May], the HRS organized, in partnership with the Service National des Renseignements (SNR), a workshop on human rights for 28 SNR officials, including 8 women. The HRS also held, on [13 and 14 May], a workshop for youth associations on the forthcoming 2 | P a g e national consultations on transitional justice. Fifty youth leaders attended, including 15 women. The national consultations are scheduled to begin in [Jun. 2009]. On [19 May], the trial of eleven people, accused of murdering people with albinism and trafficking in their body parts, began at the Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI) of Ruyigi Province. The public prosecutor presented the case in a courtroom crowded with representatives of the diplomatic corps, NGOs, including human rights and grassroots associations, as well as BINUB’s HRS. The accused were not represented by a lawyer in violation of Article 11.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) according to which: Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. The hearing was adjourned until [28 May]. On [16 May], the chairman of (SYMEBU), Dr. Pierre Claver Hajayandi issued a statement on the privately owned television channel, Renaissance. Mr. Hajayandi indicated that he is being harassed and threatened by members of the Service National de Renseignement (SNR). He further alleged that he had narrowly escaped an ambush in the outskirts of Bujumbura Mairie. On [20 May], Immaculée Nimpagaritse, a representative of the trade union of Burundi General Practitioners, SYMEGEB, in the embattled negotiations with Government, issued a statement in which she declared that she had received threats from three members of the Service National de Renseignement (SNR).