Burundi: Mouvement des femmes et filles du Burundi pour le respect de la Constitution et de l'accord [de paix] d'Arusha, including date of creation, purpose, leaders, structure and treatment of its members by authorities

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

Information on the Mouvement des femmes et filles du Burundi pour le respect de la Constitution et de l'accord d'Arusha was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. Information on the date of creation and structure of the movement could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

1. Purpose and Activities

According to Jeune Afrique, the Mouvement des femmes et filles du Burundi pour le respect de la Constitution et de l'accord de paix d'Arusha is composed of female journalists, poets, and lawyers (Jeune Afrique 1 June 2015). In April 2015, a campaign in which this movement participated was launched in Burundi to protest against the third term of Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza (ibid.). The presidential election was held in July 2015 and Nkurunziza won his third term (BBC 30 July 2015; Freedom House 17 Aug. 2015).

Jeune Afrique quotes a member of the organization as stating the movement's core objectives as the following: [translation] "'the withdrawal of the candidacy of President Nkurunziza, the reopening of private media, and compensation for all destruction they suffered'" (Jeune Afrique 1 June 2015). Jeune Afrique reports that the organization's activities include protesting the presidency alongside men and providing logistical support to the larger anti-Nkurunziza movement, ranging from bringing food to protestors to providing medical care to those injured by police (ibid.). The article also notes that the Mouvement des femmes et filles du Burundi pour le respect de la Constitution et de l'accord de paix d'Arusha initiated [translation] "the main women's marches" on 10 and 13 May 2015 in Bujumbura, next to the Independence Square, in which "more than 200 people" protested (ibid.). Radio France internationale (RFI) reports that on 10 May 2015, approximately 200 women [translation] "managed to protest in downtown Bujumbura" against Nkurunziza's third term, "an achievement that men had not successfully accomplished … in the previous two weeks" because they had been stopped by police with tear gas and live ammunition (RFI 11 May 2015). A police officer interviewed by RFI during the 10 May 2015 protest said that if the demonstrators had been men, the police would have intervened (ibid.). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a Burundi human rights defender affiliated with the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP), an Uganda-based NGO that "seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders" in eastern Africa by enhancing collaboration and knowledge sharing among them (n.d.), stated that while she had never heard of the Mouvement des femmes et filles du Burundi pour le respect de la Constitution et de l'accord d'Arusha, women "from various social groups and organizations" were involved in the demonstrations against Nkurunziza's third term in Bujumbura (EHAHRDP 15 Oct. 2015). According to Reuters, around 300 civil society groups supported the anti-government demonstrations (Reuters 15 May 2015).

2. Leaders

Without providing further details, Jeune Afrique states that Pamela Karekaze, who established Meetwe, the first Burundian cultural centre, in June 2014, and Natacha Songore, an independent journalist and documentary film producer, are founding members of the Mouvement des femmes et filles du Burundi pour le respect de la Constitution et de l'accord de paix d'Arusha (Jeune Afrique 1 June 2015). Reporting in June 2015, the same source states that Karekaze received [translation] "numerous threats through social media" against herself and her daughter by Nkurunziza's supporters and consequently fled the country (ibid.). According to Jeune Afrique, Karekaze stands accused of orchestrating a failed coup against President Nkurunziza (ibid.). The same source adds that Songore went into hiding after being told that her photo, as well as those of other women, had been collected by intelligence services and the police (ibid.).

3. Treatment by Burundian State Authorities

The June 2015 Jeune Afrique article indicates that a member of the movement was [translation] "forced to flee Burundi" (ibid.). The same source quotes another member as stating that while she has not received any threats personally, she is aware of the existence of a list of individuals whom the state wishes to imprison or kill for participating in protest movements (ibid.). Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on 12 May 2015 that more than 50,000 Burundians had fled the country "since the unrest began" (AFP 12 May 2015). The source added that more than 20 people had been killed in the previous two weeks during demonstrations against the President's third term (ibid.).

Sources report that civil society activists are subject to harassment by state authorities (AI 25 Feb. 2015; Human Rights Watch 29 Jan. 2015). Freedom House similarly states that "members of human rights groups that criticize the government are often subject to intimidation, threats, arrest, or surveillance" (Freedom House 28 Jan. 2015). A January 2015 report published by EHAHRDP indicates that the relationship between civil society and the Burundian state "dramatically deteriorated" over the course of 2014 and that human rights defenders are routinely summoned by judicial authorities, facing "baseless accusations of terrorism, defamation, or of threatening the interior security of the state" (EHAHRDP Jan. 2015, 12, 29).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 12 May 2015. "Burundi Protests Rage as Regional Leaders Prepare to Meet." [Accessed 14 Oct. 2015]

Amnesty International (AI). 25 February 2015. "Burundi." Amnesty International Report 2014/15: The State of the World's Human Rights. [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 30 July 2015. "Burundi Profile - Timeline." [Accessed 16 Oct. 2015]

East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP). 15 October 2015. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

_____. January 2015. 2015: Burundi at a Turning Point: Human Rights Defenders Working in the Context of Elections. [Accessed 6 Oct. 2015]

_____. N.d. "About EHAHRDP." [Accessed 14 Oct. 2015]

Freedom House. 17 August 2015. "Burundi: Political Assassinations Continue." [Accessed 16 Oct. 2015]

_____. 28 January 2015. "Burundi." Freedom in the World 2015. [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015]

Human Rights Watch. 29 January 2015. "Burundi." World Report 2015: Events of 2014. [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015]

Jeune Afrique. 1 June 2015. Wendy Bashi. "Burundi : ces femmes au coeur de la contestation anti-Nkurunziza." [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015]

Radio France internationale (RFI). "Burundi : manifestation de femmes dans le centre-ville de Bujumbura." [Accessed 16 Oct. 2015]

Reuters. 15 May 2015. Edmund Blair. "Burundi Civil Society Group Calls for Protests to Continue." [Accessed 15 Oct. 2015]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Assistant Professor of government at Colby College; Assistant Professor of political science at Mary Baldwin College; Association pour la protection des droits humains et des personnes détenues; Canada - Embassy to Kenya; International Crisis Group; International Foundation for Electoral Systems - Africa Division; International Human Rights Law Group - Burundi; Ligue burundaise des droits de l'homme Iteka; Ligue des droits de la personne dans la région des Grands Lacs; National Democratic Institute - Burundi; PhD Candidate at the McGill-Université de Montréal Centre for International Peace and Security Studies; Search for Common Ground Burundi; Senior Lecturer of politics and international studies at the University of Cambridge.

Internet sites, including: Al Jazeera; AllAfrica.com; Brookings Institution; Canada - Embassy to Kenya; Deutsche Welle; ecoi.net; Factiva; The Globe and Mail; The Guardian; International Crisis Group; National Democratic Institute; The New York Times; Reuters; Search for Common Ground Burundi; United Nations - Refworld; United States - Department of State, Embassy to Burundi; United States Institute of Peace; Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.