No Action Has Been Taken To Prosecute The Killers

In the report of the SOS-Torture Campaign / Burundi from 9 to 16 July 2016 we remember the arbitrary arrests that have flared up in the city of Bujumbura including qualified Musaga protest zone area of ​​the 3rd term of the President of the Republic Pierre Nkurunziza.

Dozens of people have been victims daily raids, selected for hours before being released without explanation, while others were shipped by the police.

At least six people were killed in various localities including four in Bujumbura. Among the victims was the member for EALA (East African Legislative Assembly) Hafsa Mossi, shot near his home Mutanga north (north of Bujumbura). This is a political figure well known member of the ruling CNDD-FDD.

The report also mentions the sentence of three years’ imprisonment to a judge of the High Court of Kirundo who is the victim of assembly and expeditious justice and whose trial was not fair. The young Jean De Dieu Irakoze in custody Rutovu

1. Arbitrary arrests, abductions and enforced disappearances continue

• A young man named John of God Irakoze was arrested July 12, 2016 the Musenyi hill area Kajondi, Rutovu commune, Bururi province (south). it is a terminal rises Rutovu High School. According to his father, the police first conducted a search looking for weapons but found nothing. The police then arrested her son without explanation and took him to the dungeon of the Rutovu font. Relatives indicate that incarceration is related to the assassination of Brother Sylvère Nimirijimana, high school director Rutovu occurred on the evening of July 8, 2016 (see SOS-Torture report Burundi No. 30). But they are worried about the safety of the young man because no proof of his guilt has been established.

• Police conducted a raid in the Musaga area (south of Bujumbura) on July 12, 2016. At least 112 people were arrested between 1st and 2nd Avenues Musaga Gasekebuye and the district of the same area, people were kept during the hours sitting on the ground under a blazing sun. The police detained him for eight of Gasekebuye neighborhood. Witnesses report that all the others were released on payment of bribes, kickbacks to the police, although they had their identification papers and were recorded in the ‘specifications households’ required from the beginning of the crisis administration.  A bus driver was beaten violently on the streets during the day by officers from the custody of the Burundian Minister of Public Security dated July 14, 2016.
The driver had to mow a passing procession of vehicles of Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni downtown Bujumbura on a busy road. The victim was shipped to an undisclosed location after the beating. This is not just a procedural violation but also inhuman and degrading treatment by the care of a minister in charge of public security for a simple road accident which was to be supported by road safety police especially that automobile insurance is mandatory.

The political authorities must enforce the application of the law as the Minister of Public Security today show above the law and to justice Favorite confirming the absence of rule of law in Burundi.

The same day, police also arrested two women suspected of taking photos of the scene after the accident (photos below).The bus driver (lying on the ground) surrounded by police who were beating him• The police again made a raid of a hundred people in the area Musaga dated 15 July 2016. Witnesses say that police were supported by the presence of military and claimed to be looking for ‘combatants’. All persons presented their identification documents but the hundred individuals were shipped by the police. The people of Musaga denounce arbitrary arrests as well as harassment by the police while the area has not had a case of insecurity for several days.

2. killings, summary executions and armed attacks listed

• On 10 July 2016 the body of a murdered young man was found in the neighborhood Mutanga north Gihosha area (north of Bujumbura). The victim had injuries to his head and face.

• Two people were killed in the Cibitoke province (north-west) in the evening of 11 July 2016. The first victim is a man named Bernard Barinahaki killed by grenade near his home in the town Bukinanyana. The second victim is called Japheth Ntacobemera capita common Mugina. Witnesses say the man was stabbed.The former member of the EALA Hafsa Mossi murdered in Bujumbura • A Burundian member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) was shot dead in July 13, 2016 the day the district Mutanga north (north of Bujumbura). The victim is Mrs Hafsa Mossi who had just left his home. Witnesses said the gunmen were in a vehicle and ambushed him. The member received two bullets in the chest and died in hospital after his evacuation. Ms Hafsa Mossi was a member of the ruling CNDD-FDD. Before becoming MP for the East African Community, she held other senior positions in the government.

• Former colleagues of the victim testified persistent threats received Hafsa Mossi recent months by certain high Burundian authorities. No action has been taken to prosecute the killers after they failed in a secure area and yet who was digging subject to certain avenues; no suspects have also been arrested yet. One of the victims murdered in Gihosha

• Two people were killed in the afternoon of 14 July 2016 Gihosha area (north of Bujumbura). The victims are a man of Rwandan nationality and a girl aged 10 who were shot by a stranger while they were in the same plot also houses a private hospital. Witnesses report that the killer has fled, leaving his gun at the crime scene.

3. A judge of Kirundo sentenced to 3 years in prison

In our report SOS-Torture Burundi No. 30, we noted the disturbing case of a judge of the District Court of Kirundo named Ildefonso Ndikumwami arrested July 2, 2016 at his home by agents of the national intelligence service accompanied by young activists ‘Imbonerakure’ of the ruling party. This judge was jailed and charged with insulting the head of state and undermine the security of the state following anti-pamphlets Nkurunziza (President of the Republic) gathered outside his home.

This case was considered expeditiously by the Court of Appeal of Ngozi (north) which met on July 6, leaving no opportunity for the accused to prepare his defense in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Court delivered its verdict July 15, 2016 and sentenced Mr. Ndikumwami to 3 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 francs.

Mr. Ndikumwami has always maintained his innocence and denounced before the judges a mounting which he suffered after some files he had treated the High Court of Kirundo.