BUJUMBURA October 23rd (ABP) – The Minister of Justice, Domine Banyankimbona opened on October 19, 2023, the 3rd edition of the Colloquium on cooperation between judicial actors from the Great Lakes countries which are DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.
Mr. Banyankimbona indicated that that conference comes at the right time and will undoubtedly allow legal practitioners to exchange expertise, experiences and reflect on the role those judicial actors can play in the fight against attacks on life and security impunity at the regional level.
In the Great Lakes region, she noted, there are still conflicts leading to human rights violations whose perpetrators often go unpunished. In fact, she added, with the intention of escaping justice, criminals from those countries tend to take refuge in one country or another, leaving the victims who do not know where to go.
According to Mrs. Banyankimbona, the themes selected for the two days of that conference will allow legal practitioners to further explore the instruments and principles which guide the matter of judicial cooperation within the framework of free movement of people and goods and thus enable justice to be established in the respective countries, the basis of sustainable development and especially at that time when Burundi has set itself the vision of an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060.
For his part, Jean de Dieu Muhuzenge, president of the Bujumbura bar, the objective of that conference is to discuss current issues relating to security, justice and respect for human rights. They also relate to judicial cooperation so that peace and justice reign in those three countries and impunity is banished. It will also be a question of exchanging by debating on well-identified themes and on what everyone must do so that we can establish healthy, stable and effective justice in the Great Lakes region, he continued.
As for the conflicts which continue to rage in the countries of the Great Lakes, Muhuzenge indicates that it is up to everyone to fully play their role in the fight against the proliferation of weapons in the sub-region, in order to prevent there have armed groups and all that can only be done when there is unity, solidarity and above all cooperation between member countries as well as all the actors who intervene in the field of security and justice.
As for Ingo Badoreck, director of the Rule of Law office in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa, Konrade Adenauer Foundation, the Great Lakes region has remained unstable for several years due to various conflicts which have a negative impact on populations and democratic governance.
He said that the fight against impunity for crimes linked to conflicts, organized crimes, illicit trafficking and terrorism is essential to end the cycles of violence in the region. At the same time, formal and informal cross-border cooperation in criminal matters is crucial to confronting that type of crime and putting an end to impunity, he noted. Putting an end to impunity is a fundamental basis for the rule of law. That requires, on the other hand, the possibility of prosecuting those presumed guilty of international crimes and allowing each individual to have access to justice at the national and community level.