Burundi

I should like, first of all, to associate myself with previous speakers in congratulating the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session and the members of the Bureau for their election. We would also like to thank the President of the sixty-fifth session for his work in presiding over the Assembly last year. We also take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon on his appointment to a second term as Secretary-General of the United Nations. That reappointment is vivid testimony of his successes in contributing to the promotion of international peace and security, human rights and sustainable development. The process of consolidating peace in Burundi, with the support of the United Nations, led to the successful organization of the 2010 elections through a process of consensus and thanks to an electoral code that was published following consultations with all stakeholders. That spirit of dialogue in the process of consolidating peace, also allowed our parliament to establish an ombudsman position and an independent National Human Rights Commission. This same process has allowed us to develop a second set of instruments in our campaign against poverty, namely, the law governing political parties, new property rights codes, Burundi Vision 2025, a national strategy for democratic government, and the fight against corruption. Genuine democracy now exists in Burundi. The examples referred to earlier, along with maintaining channels of communication, holding meetings with civil society and the process of implementing 23 11-51191 transitional justice mechanisms, are all additional proof of this fact. Burundi has opened a dialogue with everyone. We can all note with satisfaction, then, that a new chapter has been opened in the history of Burundi. Democratically elected institutions have led to peace for the first time. The people have decided what should be done, and there has been a peaceful transfer of power. I pay tribute to the people of Burundi for being able to break with the tragic habits of the past, in which the outcome of elections was not respected. Today, the institutions that have been established are legitimate and have the constitutional duty to protect the people, ensure the stability of the country and promote development. Let us, however, have no illusions. There is still insecurity in the aftermath of the socio-economic reinsertion of former combatants. There are also ongoing problems with the transitional regime, along with a temporary decline in the economic situation of our people, which is traceable to problems in agriculture, climate change and a spike in prices generally and oil. We should not forget the fact that Burundi is a post-conflict country. In that connection, we are pleased by the surrender of more than 80,000 weapons, which people have handed over. Furthermore, a disarmament commission has been established and the national police have begun to scout for weapons and confiscate them from criminals. In the area of development, Burundi is continuing its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The number of children is rising, as is that for teachers, because primary education is now free. We have undertaken a number of reforms to train our young people for employment. The Government has undertaken to bring together people in villages so as to ensure the provision of basic services such as drinking water, energy, health care, schools and decent housing, which facilitates reconciliation, security and job creation. This is in addition to free health care for children aged 5 and under and for pregnant women and women who give birth in public health clinics. To that end, community-level endeavours have enabled us to build more than 2,024 schools and more than 80 health centres and set up more than 2,000 pumps for the provision of drinking water — all of this in three years and without any external assistance. Numerous development efforts are being undertaken in several key national sectors aimed at enhancing the lives of our people, taking advantage of the integration of Burundi into the East African community. We regret the continuing security-related incidents caused by armed bandits, land conflicts and the presence of negative forces in certain areas of the Great Lakes region. We were shocked by the terrible tragedy that took place in Gatumba on 18 September 2011. On that dark night, a bloody attack took place in a nightclub that caused the deaths of about 40 people — children, young people, elderly people — of all ethnic groups, genders and political leanings. The Government reached out to the suffering people, paying the costs of the funerals and attending them. The Government also decided to provide treatment for all those who were injured during the tragedy, and a three-day period of mourning was announced and observed. We strongly condemn that heinous attack and have called for an inquiry, which should be concluded within a month. Thanks to genuine cooperation on the part of the people, who, having demonstrated considerable restraint, denounced those who allegedly planned and carried out the attack, we are pleased to say that we have made progress in the investigations. This is yet a further reflection of the commitment of the people of Burundi to peace, which should reassure everyone with regard to the viability and stability of Burundi. That act, while it calls for further vigilance on the part of us all, should not be considered to reflect the current state of our country; if should be seen as an act of terrorism — an isolated incident within the overall context of peace in our country. Such acts of terrorism, massacres and crimes against humanity are, unfortunately, being carried out in a number of countries, which makes it incumbent upon all of us firmly to combat them and bring their perpetrators to justice. We call on the international community to unreservedly condemn this heinous act and to assist us in prosecuting the masterminds and their henchmen. We call also on the international community to support the operationalization of the National Independent Human Rights Commission that, in a positive step, was recently established in Burundi. 11-51191 24 We take this opportunity also to note that investigation commissions are at work to shed light on the assassinations that have taken place in various parts of the country. We hope that the truth about these events will soon be known and those responsible will be brought to justice. Our domestic situation is satisfactory, but we cannot but be aware of regional and international concerns. Thus the situation in Somalia, in which Burundi is deeply involved through its participation in the African Union Mission in Somalia, requires additional partners in order for the country to be stabilized and prepared for elections. Those efforts should be carried out in the context of international measures to combat terrorism and also to ensure food security. In order to be successful in the combat against terrorism, global governance must be able to meet that challenge. There is therefore an urgent need for reform of the Security Council and ongoing interaction between the Council and the General Assembly on all issues of global interest. Before closing, we would like to congratulate South Sudan on having joined the family of nations, and we support the resolve of the Sudan and of South Sudan to seek ways to peacefully settlement post- referendum issues. We would like to close by calling on the Assembly to speed up the quest to find a balance between development and the survival of our planet.