About 400 killed since 2016, Independent National Commission on Human Rights reports

The Independent National Commission on Human Rights CNIDH revealed yesterday the death of about 400, over 100 cases of enforced disappearances, 60 cases of torture and inhuman treatment and over 700 cases of arbitrary that have been arrest reported since 2016.

Police officers arresting a young person in Bujumbura

The political and security situation that has prevailed since 2016 has negative impacts on human rights, said yesterday Jean Baptiste Baribonekeza, chairman of CNIDH during the session of oral questions to the National Assembly.

He said the commission has registered about 400 people killed, over 100 cases of enforced disappearances and 60 cases of torture and over 700 cases of arbitrary arrests since 2016.

The human rights situation has considerably improved, according to the chairman of CNIDH. “Since the beginning of 2017, CNIDH has registered about 70 people killed, 20 cases of enforced disappearances, 23 cases of torture and over 40 cases of arbitrary arrest,” said Baribonekeza.

Some MPS accuses CNIDH chairman of producing a partial report. “You have unjustly accused the Government of Burundi to win the trust of the UN Human Rights Council,” said Honorable Gélase Ndabirabe.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), together with five Burundi civil society organizations, presented to the subcommittee on accreditation of the global alliance of the CNIDH in Geneva, a request that CNIDH Burundi be demoted from the status A to status B. They accuse CNIDH Burundi of covering up human rights violations committed by Government of Burundi.

The CNIDH said that it was concerned about the persistence of gender-based violence recorded in different parts of the country. “We have received about 60 cases of allegations of rape, of which the majority are girls aged between of 2 and 18,” said Baribonekeza.

On 4 July 2017, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) published a report revealing that since April 2015, over 1,200 people had been killed, between 400 and 900 people were reportedly victims of enforced disappearances, several thousands, would have been tortured, more than 10,000 would still be arbitrarily detained.

FIDH says those international crimes are still unpunished. Since Burundi has plunged into the current political crisis, over 400,000 refugees live in neighboring countries.