Avocats Sans Frontières in Burundi
Respect for the rights of the defence
September 1997. Despite his protestations of innocence, Gaëtan Bampamye is condemned to death by the Ngoizi Criminal Court of Appeal, before whom he has appeared unrepresented.
ASF raises the matter with the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. Four years after the trial, in 2001, the Commission held that the Burundian State had violated the provisions African Charter on Human and People’s Rights guaranteeing the right to a fair trial. The Commission asked Burundi to reopen the case.
The right to a fair trial
November 2001. Dr Manlam KASSY, representative of the World Health Organisation in Burundi, was assassinated. The theory that he had been a random victim did not stand up to close examination. It appeared that the crime had been planned, organised and premeditated. Four agents who had been hired to protect the victim, and his secretary, were arrested. The case was referred to the Burundian Court of Appeal. Some of the accused let it be understood that the crime had been ordered in by people in high places, pointing the finger at the National Documentation Service (the then intelligence service). The case attracted a great deal of attention; the accused feared for their safety. The Burundian lawyers were under pressure.
This was the situation when ASF agreed to send an expatriate lawyer to join the defence team to contribute to strengthening the defence team as a whole and to ensuring a fair trial for all of the accused.
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ASF Programmes
