Africa Day celebration planned to build solidarity and stand against violence in Burundi
The violent outbursts that have occurred between civil protestors and the police since the news about President Pierre Nkurunziza seeking a third term in violation of the constitution and the Arusha peace agreement of August 2000, has left 19 dead and according to the UN, 50,000 Burundians having fled to neighboring countries terrorized by the pre-electoral climate. Tension in this situation is further fuelled by the fact that the civilians in Burundi do not have access to information because, according to Sylvère Nsengiyumva of the Coalition for Peace in Burundi (COPA); “all private radio stations were destroyed (burned) and we have no right to the information”.
As a follow up to the events around the African Solidarity Caravan that took place in Burundi in August 2014, the ACTION Support Centre in commemoration and celebration of Africa Day invited local initiatives and respective mediative personalities from Burundi to partake in and organize an event with the purpose of contributing to the joint efforts to end the ongoing violence, the maintenance of peace and social cohesion in Burundi.
In light of the above, the celebration of Africa day and activities will be centered on the building and strengthening of a Culture of Pan-African people-to-people Solidarity in Burundi. The objective of such an event will be:
- Coming together to celebrate the declaration of peace in the world
- Anticipating the ways out of the crisis in Burundi during this election period.
- Influencing policymakers to negotiate basic interests of the people and not their own interests,
- In solidarity with other struggles on the continent, supporting regional integration and the release of political prisoners and civil rights in Swaziland.
The outcomes:
- A series of possible solutions will be identified and brought to the attention of the public and politicians to ban election violence,
- The actors of APIX get together to celebrate the African Day for Peace.
- A petition is signed by over a hundred people to support the release of political prisoners and civil rights in Swaziland