HRW Calls For Extended UN Commission On Burundi

Human Rights Watch has called on the United Nations to extend the mandate of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Burundi until September 2020.

The group is making the call on the basis that the CoI has done important work in document the various violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in the country.

“The work conducted by the CoI provides critical oversight of the human rights situation in Burundi. The situation in the country deteriorated markedly following the announcement by President Pierre Nkurunziza, in April 2015, that he would run for a controversial third term in office. Over the last four years and three months, the Government and its affiliated agencies and forces, including the police, the National Intelligence Service (Service national de renseignement, or SNR), and the ruling CNDD-FDD party's youth league, the Imbonerakure, have been responsible for gross, widespread, and systematic human rights violations,” a statement from the group reads. 

HRW has stressed the importance of the CoI’s continued work given that elections are expected in 2020. 

“The pre-electoral context is likely to escalate political tensions and we are concerned that there may be a subsequent rise in human rights violations. Burundian and international human rights organisations have continued to document serious and widespread violations throughout 2018 and to date in 2019, which appear to take place in a context of complete impunity. Although the registration of the National Congress for Freedom (Congrès national pour la liberté) indicated a possible opening of political space ahead of the 2020 polls, rights groups have documented rampant abuses against its members, including killings, arbitrary arrests, beatings, and intimidation. The decision to fund the elections by collecting so-called "voluntary contributions" from the population has also led to widespread extortion. Members of the Imbonerakure and the ruling party and local administrators, who have been charged with collecting the contributions, have arbitrarily restricted peoples' movement and access to markets, health care, education and administrative services.”