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One morning in 2006 as he was leaving his house, Alain (not his real name) found himself eye to eye with about twenty policemen who had come to arrest him. Immediately taken to the police station, he was – wrongly – accused of preparing a coup d’état. Faced with his refusal to acknowledge the false allegations, the agents beat him. Alain was severely beaten and la...

Vincent (real name withheld) is a Burundian politician, a member of the opposition party. In the past, he held important positions in the government and the Burundian national assembly and was one of the most outspoken critics of the party in power. In 2013, V. I. openly contested a government measure that intended to amend the Constitution. A few days later, he was...

Sidoine (real name withheld) was the night porter at a hospital. One night, two vehicles driven by local officials arrived outside A&E. Without any explanation, the officials threw two injured men to the ground, seemingly following an altercation. While asking for details of the patients’ condition, Sidoine was slapped by the men driving the vehicles. He tried to...

Mr Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa is a prominent defender of human rights in Burundi. In May 2014, he publicly spoke out against the Burundian government’s policy of recruiting and training youths aligned with the party, who go by the name of “Imbonerakure” and are often accused of abuse perpetrated against civilians (pillage, violence, etc.). The day after taking this stanc...

A prominent member of a Burundian opposition party, Henri (real name withheld) was arrested on his way to work in 2010. Before even reaching the police station, the agents had started beating him. The acts of abuse lasted for hours and continued while he was incarcerated. On top of the torture and the threats, Henri was held under deplorable conditions: for five days...

Marc (real name withheld), was a member of the Burundian military and father of two children. He was arrested at the same time as many of his colleagues, falsely accused of plotting a coup. Marc denied the allegations for hours but his prison guards did not give up, resorting to torture to make him “confess”. He was subjected to blows from chairs, gun butts and be...

Kurt (real name withheld) was an active member of the opposition. He was arrested by around 15 police officers at his home in the early hours of the morning in 2007. Taken to the police station, those officers wanted Kurt to testify against the former president of his party and to acknowledge that he himself had tried to destabilize the party in power – which was by...

A member of the Burundian police, Jeff (real name withheld) witnessed rampant corruption among his ranks while at work. The fact that he was courageous enough to publicly report such abuse led to his arrest and then arbitrary detention for several weeks. The intimidation continued after his release: more or less explicit warnings, dismissal and, finally, death thr...

Jean-Pierre (real name withheld) was a renowned Burundian lawyer and an opponent of the government. In 2011, he was stopped and detained in a witness corruption case. He was charged for witness subordination – an infringement which, regardless of its veracity, has been time-barred since 2006. This pretext concealed the real reason for his arrest: Jean-Pierre’s pol...

André (real name withheld) was a ranked army member. One night, he was jogging with his friends when gun shots suddenly rang out. Armed men, some of whom were in civilian clothes and others in police uniform, rushed in and requested everyone to leave the premises. Unsure how to react, André and his friends remained in place. Within minutes, André was tied up, sear...