The response of foreign diplomats to political repression of opposition groups has also been varied. Some even welcomed the expulsion of 22 opposition parliamentarians in June 2008, seeing it as an opportunity to get Parliament working again, despite the illegality of the move, and few have reacted to the July 2008 arrests of two of those parliamentarians, Pasteur Mpawenayo and Gérard Nkurunziza, on questionable charges.[270] The November 2008 arrest of Alexis Sinduhije, who had traveled widely in Africa, Europe, and the United States, caught the attention of diplomats. The United States, United Kingdom, and European Union responded quickly with statements condemning the arrests as politically motivated and in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[271] However, they have paid little attention to the arrests of minor opposition party activists in the interior.