When I became Vice President of East Africa Law Society, the first action we took was to travel to Bujumbura on a fact-finding mission on human rights abuses by the Burundi government in 2011. Subsequently, the EALS, in a motion tabled at its annual general meeting in Arusha in 2011, resolved that the heads of state summit should meet and discuss Burundi towards dealing with human rights abuses.

The resolution and fact-finding report were served on the secretary general for action. There was no action neither was there response from both the government of Burundi and East African leaders. Suffice it to say, the report had detailed the places we had visited and actually confirmed the various abuses and killings carried out by government soldiers and sponsored militia. We found a group of citizens and civilians who were hiding at the compound of the Burundi Human Rights Commission for fear of their lives. We visited TV and radio stations that had been harangued, harassed and intimidated for freely informing the public.

The government of Burundi responded by first banning the president of the Burundi Bar Association, Isdore Rufyikiri, from travelling outside the country, and, secondly, by instigating his removal from the roll of advocates. We immediately responded by filing a case at the East Africa Court of Justice.The court made the following orders:

First, that the disbarment of Rufyikiri by the Bujumbura Court of Appeal was initiated by the Prosecutor before the expiration of the statutory 60 days period within which the Bar Council had to determine the complaint against him; and hence a violation of due process and the rule of law as enshrined under Articles 6(d) and 7(2) of the EAC Treaty, to which Burundi is a party.

Second, by arbitrarily banning Rufyikiri from travelling beyond the borders of Burundi without a court order, the government of Burundi fell short of the threshold of adherence to the rule of law and due process for Rufyikiri.

Third, the obligation and duty on the EAC secretary general to actively and proactively evaluate EAC partner states’ compliance with Treaty obligations (regarding adherence to the rule of law and good governance).

The last declaration was in response to a prayer by the EALS that the EAC secretary general constitute a mission to evaluate whether Burundi is in compliance with the EAC Treaty’s fundamental principles relating to good governance, rule of law, social justice and democracy; and to advise the EAC Council of Ministers on what sanctions can be levelled against Burundi in the instance that it is found to be short of the threshold.

The orders were served on both the EAC and the government of Burundi and nothing has been done. Despite efforts by the regional lawyers to bring the government of Burundi to account, these have fallen on deaf ears.

The EAC has continually refused to obey the orders of the court, the East Africa Community Summit Heads of State have continued to remain silent as Burundians are slaughtered every day.

I believe that time has come for the international community to get involved through the United Nations Security Council. The people of Burundi have suffered enough and the world must not allow the people to be killed, maimed and slaughtered in the name of democracy. It is time for international community to intervene since EAC leaders have either deliberately failed to act or simply lack the capacity to do so.

Mwamu is the immediate former President of the East Africa Law Society and current council member of the Law Society of Kenya