VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHJB #0544 2111551
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301551Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0459
INFO RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN 0002
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
UNCLAS BUJUMBURA 000544
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR AF/C
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL SZ BY
SUBJECT: BURUNDI WELCOMES SWISS PRESIDENT
1.(U) The President of the Swiss Confederation, Madame
Micheline Calmy-Rey, visited Burundi July 17 to view her
country's contributions to the peace and reconciliation
process in Burundi, and to assess its progress. Burundi's
President Pierre Nkurunziza and representatives of the
Diplomatic Corps welcomed President Calmy-Rey at the airport
at the beginning of her twenty-four hour visit.
2. (SBU) In a conversation after Ms. Calmy-Rey's visit, the
Swiss Confederation Representative in Burundi, Marc George,
told PolOff that President Nkurunziza addressed the issue of
more direct Swiss investment in Burundi. Mr. George said
that President Calmy-Rey stressed that before such investment
could mature, Burundi must develop a stronger legal
infrastructure that would provide adequate protection for
such investment. He said that President Nkurunziza responded
favorably to President Calmy-Rey's point, and assured her
that Burundi was addressing this problem.
3. (U) Following her meeting with President Nkurunziza, Ms.
Calmy-Rey met local representatives for the High Commission
for Human Rights, Global Rights, and Search for Common
Ground. President Calmy-Rey discussed mechanisms for
advancing transitional justice in a post-conflict Burundi,
judicial reform, and land dispute resolution. Calmy-Rey
underlined the importance of what she called the trilogy of
truth, justice, and reconciliation as prerequisites for a
lasting peace, and again focused on the necessity of judicial
system reform in Burundi.
4. (U) Burundi was the Swiss president's next to last stop on
a nine-country tour of the region. She departed Burundi on
July 18 for Rwanda.
MOLLER