Violation Of The Constitution And The Arusha Agreement For Peace And Reconciliation In Burundi

1. This report is published a year after the outbreak of the bid protest crisis of President Pierre Nkurunziza in the third term as president of the country in violation of the Constitution and the Arusha Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi.

2. The general finding is that during this period the situation of human rights has gradually deteriorated in a context where state services responsible for protecting the population have difficulties stem the worrying phenomenon of crime and serious violations of human rights in the country.

3. While the clashes between police and armed groups in some areas of Bujumbura Mairie that characterized the beginning of the 1st half of 2016 ceased to satisfy the people of Bujumbura . But security remains severely compromised by numerous cases of arbitrary arrests , targeted killings , enforced disappearances , torture and extrajudicial executions whose perpetrators remain ” not found ” and unpunished.

4. The investigation and prosecution often promised by the authorities in charge of Security and Justice does not seem to have a positive impact because the weapons that have marred regularly families still circulating illegally in not yet claimed armed groups Imbonerakure militiamen CNDD-FDD , complicit with the administration and the police.

5. Thus, the number of victims of assassinations , from March 12 to June 30, 2016 , amounted to 90 people killed , including 40 unidentified . In the previous quarter, 44 cases of targeted killings were recorded from which 134 targeted killings in the first half of 2016 .

6. The killings , dubbed enforced disappearances not only prevail civilians but also soldiers and policemen supposed to be protectors of the population. At the FDN , victims number in the majority among former FAB although the former PMPA are also targeted small number compared to the former FAB .

7. Accordingly, the tension rises in the member of the National Defence Force (FDN) which break would be fatal to the peace and the country’s overall security. Indeed, the phenomenon is observed in a context where the CNDD -FDD government wants to print an ethnic touch to the crisis, raising fears of invisible hand of state agents or their accomplices behind these crimes , especially after the attempted coup of May 13, 2015 .

8. Concerning arbitrary arrests, 1,291 cases were recorded (including 1,177 unidentified victims and 114 victims identified ) during the period from 12 March and 30 June 2016. During the previous period of December 9, 2015 and March 11 2016 SOS- Torture / BURUNDI had identified 736 victims people (including 316 identified victims and 420 unidentified ) . Thus, SOS- Torture / BURUNDI are a total of 2,027 arbitrary arrests in the 1st semester 2016 .

9. Often , the victims are arrested by the Police without warrant , sometimes in collusion with the militias Imbonerakure CNDD-FDD and are held at unknown locations by their relatives . We are witnessing even during some arrests to the phenomenon of hostage taking which , failing to hand over the requested person is stopped spouse or child. Several corruption cases have been reported where the police demanded a ransom to release the victims arrested irregularly. 

10. At the political affiliation of the victims, those of the MSD ( Movement for Solidarity and Democracy) and FNL ( National Liberation Forces ) are the most numerous independent . Other victims are in the category of those who demonstrated against the third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza or that of those who are suspected of complicity with the armed groups. The victims also included students accused of scribbling of President Nkurunziza ‘s picture in the provinces of Rumonge Karusi , Ruyigi , Bujumbura Mairie, Muramvya towards the end of the school year.

11. One of the serious consequences of these arbitrary arrests is the deterioration of prison conditions in the prisons and the prisons where the host capacity is very limited compared to the high number of defendants ; this is compounded by the slow progress of court records . 

12. As regards the geographical distribution of arbitrary arrests , we note that the most affected are the Mayor of Bujumbura and specifically in the town of Musaga south of the capital, followed by the Bururi province , especially in common Mugamba . The peculiarity of these two areas is that they have distinguished themselves in the protests against the third term of President Nkurunziza. It is in these places that administrative officials CNDD- FDD in particular and police were the target of assassinations by armed groups .

13. Concerning torture and other cruel , inhuman or degrading treatment , the cases recorded by SOS- Torture fall short of reality because access to places of detention and torture as the SNR and other dungeons Police is still prohibited for human rights activists . The case most visible torture occur during arbitrary arrests where victims are violently beaten and tied up by agents of the police and army . 

14. As of 12 March to 29 June 2016, SOS- Torture / BURUNDI identified 1063 cases of torture in the light of mass arrests in which the victims were subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in more cases of torture inflicted on the victims individually or in small groups during the arrests . 

15. In addition to bad inhuman treatment during arrest , SOS- Torture / BURUNDI observed since May , mass arrests in neighborhoods that have demonstrated against the third term of Pierre Nkurunziza. Hundreds of people were repeatedly brutally driven from their homes , humiliated and kept outside under a blazing sun on the pretext to carry out verification of infiltration potential combatants within the population. After several hours of waiting , a lot of people were released , sometimes after paying police bribes . Some people were held without theirs after only know by their fate. 

16. Other forms of violations of human rights features of the crisis in Burundi for a year are forced disappearance and extrajudicial executions phenomena . 

17. During the period from 12 March to 29 June 2016 , 10cas disappearances were recorded by the SOS- Torture / BURUNDI campaign. These are in addition to 16 cases reported in the previous report (4 cases of unidentified persons ) , making a total of 26 victims during the first half of 2016 . 

18. Until the publication of this report , missing persons , from December 2015 to March 2016 have not yet been recovered and obviously the police and justice are unable to shed light on the extent this phenomenon. 

19. With regard to extrajudicial executions , the campaign SOS- Torture / BURUNDI noted 18 cases of extrajudicial executions during the period of 12 March to 29 June , bringing the death toll to 214 people since December 2015 for between 11 December 2015 and March 11, 2016 , SOS- Torture / BURUNDI had identified 196 victims ( including 167 unidentified and 29 identified ) . 

20. In conclusion, the table on the situation of human rights in Burundi remains dark , a year after the outbreak of the protest movement of the third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza . 

21. The number of victims continues to grow in all population groups , including administrators and members of the ruling CNDD-FDD, without the perpetrators are apprehended and punished by the authorized services. 

22. The bodies of police and justice hardly manage to curb the worrying phenomenon of targeted killings, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in which state agents are involved as perpetrators or accomplices. 

23. Furthermore, it attends to the involvement of militias Imbonerakure in policing services and security, a phenomenon that threatens the stability of the National Defence Forces (FDN) and peace in the country especially as some military and police impunity are the subject of targeted killings or forced disappearances.

24. The frequent arbitrary arrests in the neighborhoods of Bujumbura and Bururi province specifically illustrate a climate of permanent tension between the police and the population of the localities concerned. 

25. This climate of insecurity and continued violation of human rights contributes to further isolation of Burundi in the concert of Nations with all the already devastating impact on the socio-economic and political terms. 

26. This context calls first the Head of State and his close collaborators of the government on their responsibilities and their obligation to protect the population in compliance with national, regional and international commitments which bind the Burundi in protecting human rights and promoting the principles of good governance.

 27. The obligation to contribute to the restoration of peace also comes to the entire political class, the Government and the political opposition, which should favor the frank and inclusive dialogue in the interest of all Burundians. 

28. For these reasons, the campaign SOS-Torture / BURUNDI recommends: 

Arbitrary Arrests , Abductions And Enforced Disappearances Continue

In this SOS-Torture report of August 6 to 13, 2016 , we remember that arbitrary arrests have continued in some areas in the form of raids conducted by the police almost daily in targeted areas of the city of Bujumbura.These neighborhoods , particularly Musaga , are considered by the protesters to the third term of the President of the Republic. The report also mentions the grisly discovery of three bodies in the rivers. We previously reported the existence of a body floating on the river Mubarazi. In this report it, it is a second headless body found near the first and a third victim found in the river Ruvyironza in Gitega . None of the victims has yet been identified. Journalist Jean Bigirimana of press group Iwacu is still missing more than three weeks after his abduction by individuals identified as agents of the national intelligence service. After the attack against a journalist Burundians in exile in Uganda , the report suggests this time the attack with a machete against a defender of human rights also in exile in Uganda. He is wounded but alive, but this attack calls into question the safety of defenders in exile.

Prison conditions and especially the failure of prisoners’ rights such as access to health care has become a problem among prison authorities recently.The report of another detainee died in a Bujumbura jail for not having received authorization to receive appropriate treatment and became the third inmate who died in less than two months by negligence.

The report comes on the release of four other students in Cankuzo held several weeks to scrawl the picture of the President of Burundi in textbooks. The report will conclude with a comment on the concluding observations of the Committee against public turtle made ​​this Friday, 08/12/2016 .

1.     Arbitrary arrests , abductions and enforced disappearances continue

• Police conducted simultaneous raids in neighborhoods Musaga , Cibitoke and Nyakabiga ( Bujumbura ) August 6, 2016. Dozens of people were again gathered for identity checks . Police use such massive roundups particularly in districts known protest of the 3rd term of the President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza , citing officially be looking for hidden weapons and fighters.Those arrested were identified for hours before being released . This is a form of harassment and continuous persecution that targets only certain neighborhoods . Musaga The area is particularly affected by these raids that households suffer on average twice a week . Claudine Umutesi, arrested by the SNR since August 5

• A young mother named Claudine Umutesi was arrested dated August 5, 2016 by agents of the National Intelligence Service . The operation was conducted Mutakura ( north of Bujumbura ) at his home before it is fed into the dungeons of the SNR . Relatives are concerned for his safety especially as the woman is of Rwandan origin. Burundian political authorities are very violent towards neighboring Rwanda , raising fears of reprisals against nationals of the neighboring country. Egide Bazikamwe , arrested and exfiltration of the cell by the Commissioner of Karuzi

• A man named Egide Bazikamwe was arrested by police in the capital of the Karuzi province ( eastern DRC ) on 5 August 2016. He is a resident moved the site in Kigoma town Buhiga . Witnesses report he is the victim of participating in peaceful protests against the third term of President Nkurunziza of Burundi in April and May 2015 Musaga area ( south of Bujumbura). He was held in Karuzi police cell. As of August 11, 2016 , Egide Bazikamwe was exfiltrated from his cell by the Commissioner of Karuzi province police officer OPP1 Ndayiragije Ladislas , who took him to an unknown destination .

• Three young men were arrested in the area Murago , common Burambi , Rumonge province ( south) on 7 August 2016. The operation was conducted by Imbonerakure and police , while members of the ruling party are not empowered to conduct arrests. Young men are arrested Donatien Hatangimana Leopold Ndayongeje and Bigirimana . Witnesses said they were arrested in a household while attending a party, without cause and without a warrant. Their place of detention is unknown and families are worried about their safety because they have no news of these young people since their arrest.

• Again , the police conducted raids in targeted areas of the city of Bujumbura on 8 August 2016. The people of Mutakura and Musaga areas were covered by these raids , as well as the center of the capital. Over two hundred people were thus arrested by the police. Some of the victims of these raids are worried about the threatening police during these repetitive operations , who vowed that residents will never Musaga particularly quiet .The security agents and hiding more harassment they impose on these people , stating want revenge protests against the third term in April and May 2015 .

• Riot Brigade conducted raids in the center of Bujumbura on August 12 , 2016. Dozens of young men were gathered , passers-by and street vendors alike. Those arrested by police were searched before being placed in a column to head the sales area of the BRARUDI located near the bus park . Witnesses indicate that officers of BAE have required young men to kneel on the ground and girls sitting on the ground under a blazing sun. This is a degrading treatment that has nothing to do with the control of the police work . A portion of those arrested were subsequently shipped to the dungeons . Mr. Niyonkuru , tortured by Imbonerakure to Shombo

2.Assassinations , summary executions and armed attacks listed

Imbonerakure , the youth league of the ruling CNDD-FDD, continue to commit abuses with impunity. On the evening of August 6, 2016 , they arrested and tortured a demobilized soldier in the town Shombo , Muramvya province ( center of the country ). The victim is called Emmanuel Niyonkuru and was evacuated dying to Muramvya hospital ; he is also an activist of the opposition party MSD . This is not the first time that young Imbonerakure cited in torture and illegal arrests. They never bothered by the police or prosecution and enjoy total impunity. In many communities, they are substituted for the law enforcement conducting night patrols with weapons in the full knowledge of local authorities.

– A defender of human rights of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH ) was attacked on the evening of August 8, 2016 in Kampala, Uganda , where he lives in exile in Nakivale camp. The victim is Leon Ntakiyiruta , observer APRODH in Makamba province ( southern Burundi ) and cell responsible for Justice and Human Rights of the Forum for Awareness and Development ( FOCODE ) , attacked with machetes by two men a few meters from the same refugee camp. victim of colleagues indicate that Imbonerakure affiliated youth party CNDD-FDD to have infiltrated in recent months Burundian refugee camps to identify and attack the people opposed to the third term of President.

Mr. Ntakiyiruta victim would have just investigated the presence of these young people in refugee camps. He was wounded in the arm and head and evacuated for treatment in hospital.  Mr. Niyonkuru , tortured by Imbonerakure to Shombo – After the discovery of a decomposed body in the river on the Mubarazi Nyabisiga hill area Bugarama commune Muramvya(center of the country) dated August 5, 2016 , a second body was discovered in the same river in August 9, 2016, in the locality of Bihogo Nyabisiga on the hill. This discovery was made while civil protection police officers had gone to the place where was discovered the previous decomposing body , with the aim of rescuing and try to identify (see report SOS torture No. 34) .

After the operation, the fact is that the second victim was decapitated , making it very difficult for the time identification. The two bodies were weighted down with large stones before being thrown into the river by their killers . These findings are very disturbing and suggest extrajudicial killings whose victims could be many more .The first body found in the river Mubarazi Civil Protection police after the salvage operation of the two bodies of Mubarazi  Journalist Jean Bigirimana , missing since July 22, 2016 The area of ​​the macabre discovery is also one in which was seen for the last time journalist Jean Bigirimana the Press Group Iwacu , arrested by agents of the National Intelligence Service in Bugarama July 22, 2016 and taken to Muramvya(center of the country) according to several witnesses . Until then , the SNR and the police deny having arrested M.Bigirimana . More than three weeks after his enforced disappearance , colleagues of the journalist and his family fear he was executed . The discovery of the bodies in the river Mubarazi emphasizes that fear. Police announced Friday, August 12, 2016 none of the two recovered victims is Jean Bigirimana.

The decomposing body found in the river Ruvyironza – The decomposing body of another man was found dated August 9, 2016 in Ruvyironza river town Giheta , Gitega province ( central Somalia ) between the hills and Gihehe Korane . Witnesses report that the victim was murdered arms tied behind his back, but the identification was not conducted by the police. This man was buried by local authorities . This brings to three the number of victims murdered and thrown into rivers in the space of a week. – A man was shot dead in the town Rugombo , Cibitoke province ( west) on August 11 , 2016. The victim is a motorcycle transporter named Léonce Ngendakumana .

3. A prisoner dies in prison in Bujumbura

An inmate named Zuberi Benga died in the same speakers in Bujumbura central prison called Mpimba dated 7 August 2016. He had been unjustly arrested in Rumonge July 29, 2016 with nine other people in the place of his brother, a former MP Saleh appointed Cimanimpaye , wanted by the police (see report SOS-Torture No. 33) . Witnesses say he was ill and asked permission to leave for care , permission that was denied by the prison . In recent weeks , detainees die in similar circumstances following the refusal of the prison authorities to let them seek treatment outside the prison to receive appropriate treatment (see reports SOS-Torture No. 33 and 34 ) .

Mr. Zuberi Benga , died for lack of care Prison Besides the fact that the negligence of the prison authorities can not be justified , it should be noted that prison overcrowding in Burundi, particularly accentuated since the beginning of the crisis worsened conditions already precarious where detainees were. At the end of June 2016, the prison population was 8,831 inmates including over half ( 5.091 ) in custody (see SOS-Torture report Burundi No. 29).

4. Students detainees released to scrawl

Four high school students Cankuzo ( East of the country ) who were arrested for scribbling the picture of the President of Burundi in textbooks were released on 10 August 2016 the Ruyigi prison . This is a bail granted to these young students , which however did not finish their school year as their peers Students arrested since the beginning of June for this case scribbles were released , only two students remain in detention in Muramvya : Perfect Iradukunda and Alexis Mugerowimana , accused by the participation in an insurrectionary movement Parquet related to event organization during the arrest for doodling 5 High School students Muramvya . The SOS-Torture Campaign Burundi calls for their release. 

5. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture concerning the special report of Burundi on Friday the 08/12/2016 

After the exceptional review of Burundi on 28 and 29 July 2016 the Committee Against Torture has released its concluding observations this Friday, 08/12/2016 , observations that are after the Government of Burundi had refused to participate in the second dialogue session and is thus deprived of the opportunity to bring his answers directly from members of the committee , which did not prevent the committee , despite non-cooperation in maintaining the procedure and exit its concluding observations. 

In these concluding observations, the Committee against Torture denounced the forced disappearances of political opponents , citing the figure of 36 cases between April 2015 and April 2016 , sexual violence by the security forces and young Imbonerakure ( militia ) , as well as a genocidal rhetoric aimed at the Tutsi minority. 

The Committee strongly urges the State party ( Burundi ) to protect members of civil society who cooperated with the Committee against Torture. Here the Committee against Torture reversed its deep concern about the serious allegations received concerning reprisals against members of the Burundian civil society who have contributed and cooperate with the Committee at the 58th session in the context the Special Review of Burundi. The Committee is awaiting the comments of lawyers Armel Niyongere , Nigarura Lambert Dieudonné Bashirahishize and Vital Nshimirimana victims of retaliation to determine these allegations and that on basis of the party in question and any information to clarify this case including from the UN institutions that have been copied various correspondence relating thereto.  The Committee calls on Burundi to submit between now and October 12, 2016 a special monitoring report on all steps taken to implement all the recommendations contained in the report