Cablegate: Burundi Senate and National Assembly Reveal Docket

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DE RUEHJB #0711 2781225
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051225Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0631
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0019

UNCLAS BUJUMBURA 000711

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SENSITIVE
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DEPT FOR AF/C
ADDIS FOR REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM PREF PTER KNNP ECPS MNUC
PARM, SENV, BY
SUBJECT: BURUNDI SENATE AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY REVEAL DOCKET
FOR NEW SESSIONS

REF: BUJUMBURA 556

1. In ceremonial openings on October 1, the Burundi Senate
and National Assembly announced they will consider 33 bills
in their upcoming sessions. Of the 33 bills to be
considered, only 1 of the bills differs from the last docket.
The other bills have been in limbo for several months due to
a stalemate in the National Assembly (reftel). The president
of the Senate expressed his strong desire to accomplish more
this session than in previous ones.

2. The docket can be broken down into a few different
categories, with two notable highlights. The first of these
highlights is a bill for an improved criminal code, including
anti-Trafficking-in-Persons measures. The second notable law
under consideration is the new one on the docket, a law that
provides for severe penalties for organizations or
individuals that finance or launder money for terrorist
organizations.

3. Other bills to be considered: an improved finance and
investment code, a law on Asylum and Refugee Protection,
demarcation of certain communes and National Parks,
government procedures for public offerings, and ratification
of several multilateral treaties and conventions to which
Burundi is a party. Among the conventions to be considered
for ratification are:
-- Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and their
Destruction
-- International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of
Nuclear Terrorism
-- Universal Postal Union Act
-- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
-- protocol accords for the establishment of the Center for
Excellence to Manage Regional Catastrophes
-- Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of
Wild Animals
-- African Charter for Human and Peoples' Rights
-- Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of
Certain Conventional Weapons, Which May Be Deemed to be
Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects
-- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
-- Convention on the Prohibition of Development, Production,
Stockpiling and Use of Antipersonnel Mines and their
Destruction.
CASEBEER

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