BUJUMBURA, September 24th (ABP) – The National Observatory for the Prevention and Eradication of Genocide, War Crimes and Other Crimes Against Humanity (ONPGH), released a statement on Monday, September 23, 2024, on the occasion of the celebration of the International Day of Peace, under the theme: “Cultivating the Culture of Peace”. The day is celebrated every September 21 of each year.
ONPGH chairperson Jean de Dieu Mutabazi, indicated that this International Day of Peace was declared by United Nations Resolution number 55/282.
Indeed, for this year, the day came at a time when there are wars that are observed in the world, particularly in Ukraine, Gaza and the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Currently, he added, Burundi is experiencing peace but its duty of memory never ceases to recall that after its independence it experienced “the genocide against the Bahutu” during the 1972-1973 period and other atrocious events that have brought mourning to Burundi.
For these despicable events not to happen once more, the chairman of the ONPGH calls, through that statement, on all Burundians to become aware of the need to consolidate peace both in space and time, with a view to building lasting peace together.
According to him, the chosen theme calls on all leaders, at whatever level, to unite to adopt good peace practices and instill them in children, current and future generations, for the culture of peace to be an everyday reality that is reflected in the facts, gestures and thoughts, as well as with colleagues in the workplace as in the neighborhood in the neighborhood or in the villages, he insisted.
The ONPGH took the opportunity to demonstrate its empathy and solidarity with the people of eastern DRC who are suffering from the armed conflict.
The said observatory also seized the opportunity to support and encourage the government of Burundi for the multifaceted support intended to recover and respect the territorial integrity of the DRC.
It is also a good opportunity to further build a democracy for the next elections in 2025, a democracy that stabilizes institutions, which allows the renewal of the upper and lower houses of parliament as well as the district councils in a climate of peace and in all sportiveness. Mutabazi closed his remarks by making a strong appeal to refugees, especially the political refugees of 2015, mainly those who are in Western capitals to return home in order to join the ongoing dynamic of the Burundian diaspora which is keen to make its contribution to achieving the objectives of the vision of Burundi, an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060.