E/CN.4/1991/56 page 65 According to the same reports, two Jehovah's Witnesses in Bubanza Province were arrested for possessing bibles. In addition, when they refused to give the Party salute, Governor Kimbusa Balthazar, sent them to a military camp where they were tortured." 44. On 20 August 1990, in reply to two earlier communications, the Permanent Mission of Burundi transmitted the statements made by the delegation of Burundi to the forty-first and forty-second sessions of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, the relevant extracts of which are reproduced below: Statement by Mr. Muyovu Gregoire. Charge d'affaires a.i.« at the fortv-first session of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities The Government of Burundi counts among those that fully endorse the ideals and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the fundamental objectives of which is to promote and encourage respect for the rights and fundamental freedoms of all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. When the Third Republic was proclaimed in Burundi on 3 September 1987, the country's new leaders set themselves the priority task of restoring the rights and fundamental freedoms of all citizens. You will recall that the Second Republic was marked by intolerance towards freedom of worship and religion, and that relations between the Church and the State had deteriorated. The Third Republic restored the rights of all believers and resumed the dialogue between the religious denominations and the State. The new regime recognized the right of religious denominations to exercise their specific mission, and defined clear principles to allow that right to be unequivocally exercised in practice. By way of illustration, the declaration of 16 October 1987 reaffirmed the will of the authorities to guarantee religious freedom to recognized religious denominations with Burundi legal representation. It further stated: 'those who benefit from the right to religious freedom have a duty to respect the same rights for others'. It should be recalled that the State of Burundi is secular and does not give preference to any religion, but guarantees each person's right to practise his religion within the confines of the law. As you are aware, Burundi is engaged in struggles on several fronts, among which that for national unity is not the least important. You have been