By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) – Civil society groups on Tuesday denounced Burundi’s decision to withdraw from a review of its human rights record and raised concerns about a perceived decline in cooperation from country with UN bodies.
State compliance with legally binding human rights treaties that guarantee important freedoms is regularly reviewed by the United Nations. But in a rare move, the 15-member Burundian delegation walked out of a meeting of the UN Human Rights Committee on Monday in Geneva due to the presence of what it called “criminals” posing as for members of civil society.
The incident follows Nicaragua’s refusal to participate in a torture review and Russia’s failure to take part in two reviews last year, which is tantamount to what the human rights chief of the UN, Volker Turk, described in June as “a significant lack of cooperation” with the human rights system.
“There is a trend and it is becoming a real problem. Before, states were convinced that it was important, but there has been a recent deterioration in cooperation with the UN treaty bodies,” he told Reuters Patrick Mutzenberg, director of the Center for Civil and Political Rights. .
Marc Limon, director of Universal Rights Group, called the incident a “serious escalation”.
UN committee member Helene Tigroudja said Burundi’s actions were “deeply regrettable” and said she had no broader concerns about compliance. “The vast majority of States parties to the Covenant are fulfilling their reporting obligations…”, she said.
Burundian lawyer and human rights defender Armel Niyongere said government officials walked out of the human rights committee minutes after it opened because of his presence at the meeting. Niyongere lives in exile after participating in the 2015 protests.
“It’s really a shame. It was an opportunity for them to speak out,” he told Reuters. A UN document showed that the review, which continued without Burundi, reported arbitrary detentions of political opponents as well as torture.
“We regret that the committee could not accede to the request of the Burundian delegation,” Burundi said in a statement, referring to its call to remove the “criminals” from the room.
The HRC monitors the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – a legally binding treaty that guarantees freedom from discrimination and the right to assembly, among other measures. Iran and Venezuela are among the countries to be reviewed by the same committee in October-November.
(Additional reporting by Hereward Holland; editing by Mark Heinrich)