Mr. High Representative/Vice-President of the EU
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU Member States,

As the Council of the European Union (EU) and its preparatory bodies discuss the situation in Burundi and EU policy on the matter, the undersigned organizations wish to express their concern that the EU and some of its member states seem willing to turn a blind eye to the lack of significant progress on the human rights situation and the widespread impunity for past and ongoing serious human rights violations in the country.

Despite a series of recent isolated acts by the Burundian government regarding civil liberties, the Council should maintain its position that sustained and visible progress in opening up political and civic space and combating impunity are essential to addressing fundamental human rights problems in Burundi. The EU should not rely on Burundian authorities' promises of human rights reforms and should instead insist that the authorities meet concrete benchmarks demonstrating their commitment to ensuring accountability and embarking on a human rights path.

Continued human rights abuses and widespread impunity

In March 2016, in light of Burundi's failure to comply with its obligations under the Cotonou Agreement regarding human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, the EU decided to suspend its direct financial support to the Burundian government. The decision was taken in response to the killings, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests of thousands of Burundians amidst the political crisis surrounding the contested third term of the late President Pierre Nkurunziza. Police violently repressed protesters and, after a failed coup attempt in May 2015, several radio stations were attacked and forced to close. More than 400,000 people, including most civil society activists and prominent independent journalists, have fled the country.

The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said it believes crimes against humanity have been committed in Burundi since 2015, possibly even during the 2020 election period.

On May 25, 2020, Evariste Ndayishimiye, the ruling party's candidate, was declared the winner of the presidential election, which was held amid widespread repression; several opposition members were killed and many were arrested. Access to social networks was blocked, and no independent international observers were present.

During Evariste Ndayishimiye's first year in office, some limited improvements have taken place. For example, the president pardoned four journalists arrested in 2019, initiated a dialogue with media representatives in Burundi - leading to the lifting of some restrictions - and pardoned more than 5,000 other prisoners (although only about 2,600 had been released by the end of May).

But many of Evariste Ndayishimiye's repeated promises of justice and political tolerance have yet to be fulfilled. The president has appointed hardliners from the ruling party to key positions, including Gervais Ndirakobuca, the current Minister of Interior, Community Development and Public Security, who is under EU sanctions. In addition, although reports of serious human rights violations have decreased, human rights organizations continue to document cases of torture, ill-treatment, and arbitrary arrest, and unidentified bodies are still being found in various parts of the country.

Evariste Ndayishimiye has shown greater openness toward the EU than his predecessor. In February 2021, in Burundi, the Burundian government and representatives of the EU and its member states resumed political dialogue, which had been suspended since 2016. Foreign Minister Albert Shingiro visited Europe in April. The Burundian government has presented a technical roadmap on human rights and other reforms, but it remains vague and non-binding and avoids sensitive issues - including the fight against impunity for the many crimes committed since 2015.

No sustainable progress on the 2016 criteria

In the annex to its 2016 decision, the Council included a "matrix of commitments," on which it expected specific and concrete progress from the Burundian government before lifting the EU's restrictive measures. The Burundian government has not implemented reforms in most of these areas, almost all of which remain:

• Evariste Ndayishimiye's efforts to discipline members of the ruling party's youth league, the Imbonerakure, have reduced their involvement in human rights abuses in many provinces. However, in other provinces, they continued to perform law enforcement functions - even though they do not have the authority to do so - with the explicit encouragement of the government and ruling party officials. The Imbonerakure, some of whom were armed, arrested, abused, and killed suspected opponents, sometimes in collaboration with or with the support of local authorities, the police, or the intelligence services. Some of their members have been involved in fighting against Burundian armed opposition groups in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo as recently as May 2021.
• Despite repeated promises, there has been only limited reopening of private media stations closed by the government in 2015. Since the 2016 EU decision, only Radio Bonesha has been reopened in 2021, after it signed a deed of commitment with the National Communication Council (CNC), the state body that regulates the media. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America are still suspended since 2018. In 2021, the media landscape in Burundi remains severely restricted. The few independent media outlets that are allowed to operate practice self-censorship and avoid controversial issues. Journalists were regularly threatened or harassed by government and ruling party officials. There have been no credible investigations into the 2016 enforced disappearance of Iwacu journalist Jean Bigirimana or other serious human rights abuses against journalists.
• Independent civil society organizations and human rights defenders cannot operate freely and safely in Burundi. The suspension of several civil society organizations in 2015 has not been revoked. Human rights defenders who left Burundi for their safety in 2015 and 2016 have not been able to return; their organizations have been closed or suspended, destroying Burundi's once vibrant human rights movement. Most civil society organizations operating in Burundi refrain from direct criticism of the government. Human rights defender Germain Rukuki is serving a 32-year prison sentence and is still awaiting the verdict on his final appeal. Nestor Nibitanga, another human rights defender, sentenced to five years in prison in 2018, was among those granted a presidential pardon in 2021.
• The 2016 Council decision mentioned the need for progress on the trials of political prisoners. Some political prisoners have since been released, while others remain in prison. Most recently, hundreds of members of the National Congress for Freedom (NCF) were arrested before, during, and after the 2020 elections, many arbitrarily. A significant number were released after the elections, but others remain in prison. Interference by ruling party and government officials in politically motivated cases was common, violating basic fair trial standards.
• In 2016, the EU stated that the cases of prisoners arrested during the 2015 protests and security incidents should be handled in accordance with Burundian law and international law. Some protesters arrested in 2015 were released, but many were tortured and convicted in unfair trials. Many people suspected of opposing the government in other contexts have been arrested more recently, including after security incidents. They suffered the same lack of due process: they were often arbitrarily arrested, some were tortured, and they could not be assured of a fair trial.
• In 2016, the EU called on the Burundian government to investigate allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings, and to act on the findings of these investigations. At the height of Burundi's political crisis in 2015 and 2016, police and intelligence officers tortured dozens of alleged government opponents and killed many others. No credible investigations were conducted. Dozens of new cases of torture have been documented since the 2020 elections, and at least one detainee died in custody after being tortured by intelligence agents in 2021. The 2016 decision called for the participation of international experts in these investigations, but the Burundian government forced the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to close its office in Burundi in 2019 and does not allow the UN Commission of Inquiry or international human rights organizations into the country.
• The Burundian government refused to talk to its opponents in an East African Community-sponsored dialogue, which has since been abandoned. Nor has it reached out to political opponents and civil society actors in exile. Instead, a Supreme Court judgment (dating from June 2020) was released on February 2, 2021, sentencing a group of 34 exiled defendants, including several journalists, civil society activists, and political opponents, to life imprisonment for their alleged involvement in the May 2015 coup. The defendants were tried in absentia and had no legal representation, which prevented them from receiving a fair trial and flouted the most basic principles of due process. There has also been no formal dialogue between the government and Burundi's main opposition party, the CNL, many of whose members were killed, arrested, and tortured, particularly before and during the 2020 elections. Fabien Banciryanino, a notoriously outspoken former member of parliament arrested in October 2020, was sentenced in May 2021 to one year in prison for undermining internal state security and rebellion.

Recommandations

The EU should not under any circumstances give the impression that it is willing to ignore its own fundamental criteria and principles in a bid to improve diplomatic relations. The EU and its member states should :

• Signal to the Burundian government that sustainable and demonstrable progress in the fight against impunity and the restoration of civil liberties, as well as an end to torture, are paramount to resuming cooperation with the EU under the Cotonou Agreement.
  Call on the Burundian authorities to take immediate steps to restore space for independent human rights documentation and advocacy in Burundi. These measures should include, at a minimum, the immediate and unconditional release of Germain Rukuki and Fabien Banciryanino, the lifting of the suspension of human rights and media organizations operating in exile, and the amendment of laws governing the media and national and international organizations to bring them in line with regional and international obligations.
• Ensure that the Burundian government's human rights commitments, including those in its roadmap, are ambitious, detailed, and comprehensive, are regularly monitored through a rigorous follow-up mechanism, and are discussed in the political dialogue with the EU.
• Request that Burundian authorities provide detailed information on specific cases of serious human rights abuses and on measures taken to bring those responsible to justice and prevent similar abuses in the future.
• Maintain targeted sanctions against those most responsible for serious human rights violations. This does not replace the need for a credible judicial process to try them for their responsibility for these crimes.
• Ensure that if sustained progress is made toward resuming direct development cooperation, the EU does not directly fund or support projects that are managed or supervised by individuals against whom the EU has imposed targeted sanctions or others with well-documented responsibilities for human rights abuses.
• Guarantee the autonomy and independence of the work of international NGOs in Burundi. The EU should publicly support the right of civil society and the media to cover political, human rights, and security issues, and urge the authorities to end the monitoring and blocking of their activities.
• Support a further extension of the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry on Burundi when its current mandate expires in September 2021.
• Urge the Burundian authorities to respect all regional and international human rights obligations.

We would be happy to provide you with more detailed information and discuss these issues with you in depth.

Agir ensemble pour les droits humains (AEDH)

Burundi Human Rights Initiative 

Committee to Protect Journalists

DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)

European Network for Central Africa (EurAc) 

FIACAT: International Federation of ACAT

Human Rights Watch

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Ökumenisches Netz Zentralafrika (ÖNZ)

Open Society European Policy Institute

Protection International

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