Worldwide condemnation of systematic abuse
Burundi made international headlines in November 2017 when the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced an investigation into alleged international crimes. Earlier in the year, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Burundi had reached similar observations, confirming the persistence of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence since 2015.
Party in power will crush whoever defies its authority
As the country sunk into quasi-total isolation, access to the field became increasingly problematic. Most of TRIAL International’s actions were therefore conducted from abroad, including neighboring countries.