Burundi: When Burundians illegally kept in prison request help to the ruthless Daniel Gélase Ndabirabe
They are more than 400 in the single central Mpimba prison in Bujumbura. Their representatives wrote a letter on April 19, 2021 and sent it to the Demobilized Colonel of the CNDDFDD, Gélase Ndabirabe, current president of the National Assembly of Burundi. They asked him to use the power conferred on him by the people to plead with the institutions empowered to be submitted in their right. They claimed that they sent such correspondence to the justice minister, but they received no response.
These prisoners are not the only ones to be in this situation. If it is 400 who are in Mpimba prison in Bujumbura, but there are others in different prisons from the interior of the country.
In a country of peace and justice; in a country where there is respect for human rights; In a country with leadership not dominated by hatred, revenge and both ethnic and political divisions, their place should not be prison. They should be at home at home working for the well-being of their families and therefore for the development of the country. But, some of them have been unjustly kept in prisons for more than four years. A shame for leaders who say Christians.
These innocent people consist of former convicts who have served their sentences, others who have won the trials. All these people have not unfortunately not received their enlargement tickets or exit tickets to leave prisons. They are therefore kept in prison circles without any valid reason.
Everyone is aware of the only reason for maintaining in prison. It does not ask to do investigations to know it; It is enough to know the spirit that animates our leaders; a spirit of hatred and revenge. The majority of these people are accused of participating in demonstrations against the third term of former President Pierre Nkurinziza in 2015; Others are accused without any valid reason to be wick with the rebels that do not exist, or because they are Tutsis or that they are Hutus of the CNL. The power decides to keep them in prison, and as Burundian justice is not independent and works under the injunction of the executive, innocents are forced to languish in prison. They resorted to the Minister of Justice; no reaction on his part. They have just written to the Speaker of Parliament, and we are sure they are not waiting for a favourable response. Not only does it not work to make them free, but also that he will not even advocate for their favour because he does not have the will; He is the criminal system that takes pleasure in seeing them mould in prison.
We do not doubt a moment that they addressed this letter not knowing the answer he would give them. They know this man who has never hidden his hatred towards Tutsis and opponents in general; He who was at the School of Juvenal Havyarimana in Rwanda in full preparation of the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis in 1994. They wait nothing of him. Maybe they seek to exhaust all the remedies and that tomorrow they still think to send such a correspondence to the President of the Republic, the Supreme Justice. Yes, it is supposed to be, but it is not in practice. Although it was, it would not give any favour to those groups of people because they were there when he granted the presidential grace to more than 500 prisoners. He knew there are people who are unfairly incarcerated, he did not think of them. He also derived from the cnddfdd criminal system even though some of its influential members do not allow him to exercise his power freely. All agree on the same point: kill, imprison, reduce to nothing, force to exile any Burundian who does not adhere to the CNDDFDD. Burundi is not only returned to a monopartite system, but, in reality, the country fell into a non-name military dictatorship behind a semblance of democracy (by the mere fact that Burundians present themselves to the elections whose results are manipulated by the military clique in power).
URN Hitamwoneza still challenges Burundians so that they do not easily yield to this bullying by killings, arbitrary imprisonment inflicted by the military clique that takes hostage the Burundian people. We must stay awake and combative; we must keep courage because this injustice will end one day. The truth will have to win on the lie, the property will overcome the harm early or later. We must unite our strength to resist together against this dictatorship that seems to live their last moments. All strategies must be implemented so that it falls alone without causing too much damage to the Burundian people. United, we will overcome.