Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of alleged mass graves in Burundi.

Mr Philip Hammond

I am deeply concerned by the discovery of alleged mass graves in Burundi. I am aware that the UN is currently analysing satellite images to investigate reports of at least nine mass graves, including one in a military camp said to contain more than 100 bodies. There must be an impartial investigation into these allegations. Where crimes have been committed, those responsible must be prosecuted. In the margins of the African Union Summit the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) met the African Union’s Peace and Security Commissioner, Smail Chergui, and the Burundian Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation, Alain Nyamwite. He strongly urged the Burundian Government to accept responsibility for what was happening in their country and to take decisive action to improve the situation. We are exploring what more we can do to support the African Union’s leadership, and have intensified our efforts at the UN and with our EU partners to halt the violence in Burundi.