Mr. President of Burundi, Please Stop Deporting Rwandan Refugees in Burundi First and foremost, we, the undersigned, would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of the Burundian people and government for their kindness and hospitality to Rwandan refugees over the 15 years since the ascendancy to power of the RPF Nazi regime in Rwanda. People living along the border of both countries have lived in peace and exemplary neighborliness for generations. During the Burundian turmoil under the Tutsi military regimes in Burundi after 1972 mega massacres, the majority of Burundians have been warmly accepted and given hospitality across Rwanda without following the UNHCR standard on asylum seekers procedures. However, the last few years have seen a growing collaboration between the governments of the two countries, often to the detriment of the interests of the Rwandan people and to freedom and justice, especially with regard to Rwandan refugees who are for sure presecuted in their home country. Reliable news coming out of Burundi reveals constant harassment, imprisonment and deportation of Rwandan refugees only because they happen to be born Hutus. In the beginning of August, over 600 Rwandan Hutu refugees were arrested by the Burundian National police and Security Services. On September 29, at least 400 of them were handed over by Burundian officials to RPF authorities in violation of the principle of non-refoulement. As Your Excellency knows, this principle is the cornerstone of the 1951 Refugee Convention in which refugees will not be sent back to a country where their life or freedom would be at risk. Similar deportations were organized to make happy the Rwandan Tutsi-led government and more recently another deportation that took place in Kirundo and Ngozi aroused the complaint of the Human Rights Watch to your government, but to no avail. The whereabouts of the deportees is not yet officially known and they certainly are subjected to physical and psychological torture under extremely inhumane prison conditions in their native country. The remaining group of Hutu refugees in detention in detention camps will also face the same risk of deportation and the same tragic fate awaits them in Rwanda. As a contracting party of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention and as a member of the UN Human Rights Commission, your government is committing a breach of its obligations under international law. Confident that you will do everything in your power to save the lives of the victims and their families: * We, the undersigned, humbly appeal to you to use your position as President of Burundi to take action and bring an end to the involuntary repatriation of Hutu refugees. * We call upon the Burundian government to cease arbitrary detainment of innocent Rwandan refugees and release those in jail without delay. * We request that you use your good offices to urge the Rwandan government to account for the whereabouts of the deportees, who might be subjected to extreme ill-treatment and torture. Sincerely, The undersigned

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