Burundi: U.N rights body appoints inquiry commission on crisis

The chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday announced the establishment of a commission of inquiry to probe into human rights violations and abuses in Burundi since April 2015.

eNCA | UN #HumanRightsCouncil appoints #Burundi commission members https://t.co/OaPRUDQDc5 pic.twitter.com/GFqUpiX15Y

— eNCA (@eNCA) November 23, 2016

The three-member commission that will be chaired by Algerian Fatsah Ouguergouz will also be tasked with identifying the alleged perpetrators of the violence. The other two commissioners are Reina Alapini Gansu from Benin and Francoise Hampson from the United Kingdom.

In discharging its duties, the commission has been authorised the Council to engage national authorities, UN agencies and other stakeholders including civil society organisations.

The final report is expected to be tabled before the UN Commission on Human Rights in September 2017.

According to the Africa News Agency, the commission will present an oral briefing to the Human Rights Council at its 34th and 35th sessions, in March and June 2017, respectively, and a final report at an interactive dialogue at the council’s 36th session in September 2017. Burundi was thrown into fresh crisis more than a year ago when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term that he went on to win. To date, it has been reported that hundreds of people have been killed and more than 250,000 have fled the nation.