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Observatoire global de la politique publique nationale sur la protection des défenseurs de droits humains
Ernest Manirumva, human rights defender: renewed calls for justice as monthly anniversary of assassination observed
Africa / Burundi / Commonwealth of Nations
Thursday 10 November 2011 by East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
Renewed calls for justice for Ernest Manirumva as monthly anniversary of assassination observed
9 November 2011
Fair trial guarantees must be upheld, and timely and impartial additional investigations completed, if justice is to be attained for the murder of Ernest Manirumva, said the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) today as it launched the French version of its report on the case.
Ernest Manirumva was a Burundian human rights defender and vice-president of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Malpractice Observatory (OLUCOME). He was kidnapped from his home on the night of 8-9th April 2009 and murdered in the early hours of the morning. His murder demonstrates both the dangers faced by those who challenge powerful interests and the difficulty in seeking justice in Burundi. The case remains unresolved over two and a half years after Manirumva’s assassination, while the judicial process has in many ways failed to live up to domestic and international fair trial standards.
The 16-page report "Ernest Manirumva: a Lost Light, a Derailed Trial, and an Embattled Civil Society" is the result of a trial observation mission carried out by EHAHRDP in June 2011. It provides background to the case as well as an account of the latest hearing on 15th June 2011. The challenges that human rights defenders have faced in campaigning for justice for Manirumva and the current climate for human rights work in Burundi are also highlighted.
The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project calls on the Burundian authorities to ensure the protection of all witnesses in the investigation into Manirumva’s assassination; conduct impartial, independent and complete investigations, including interrogations, cross-examinations and DNA tests on those individuals named by the FBI and 3rd Commission of Inquiry reports; ensure the timely resumption of public hearings in the case; and to guarantee the inviolability of judicial independence in the case.
To read the full report, please visit: www.defenddefenders.org/images/docs/ManirumvaEN.pdf
To read theFrench version of the report, please visit:
www.defenddefenders.org/images/docs/ManirumvaFRFinal.pdf
For more information, please contact:
Hassan Shire, Executive Director (English) on hshire yorku.ca or +256 772 753 753
Rachel Nicholson, Advocacy Officer (English, French) on advocacy defenddefenders.org or +256 778 921 274
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