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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...

Yohann (real name withheld) was an active member of the National Liberation Forces (FNL), an opposition party. A prominent political personality in his community, he first came under pressure in the run-up to the 2010 elections: arrest and arbitrary detention, public threats, harassment, etc. Fearing for his life, Yohann fled to another region of Burundi. After th...

Jules (not his real name), married with four children, was a long-standing member of the National Liberation Front (FNL), an opposition party. In 2010, a post-election crisis swept across the country, resulting in a deterioration of the safety of political opponents and a surge in extrajudicial executions. That was when Jules began to be persecuted and threaten...

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...

Mr O.R. was an active member of an opposition party. In 2011, his life crumbled after he began being harassed by an agent of the National Intelligence Service (Service National des Renseignements, or SNR). The agent told him to join the party in power and denounce his colleagues. He received similar phone calls up to four times a day. A few months after the threats...

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...

In 2012, a false accusation led to the arrest of Marius (assumed name). At the police station, he was kicked with boots and lashed with belts so violently that he lost consciousness. Left in this critical condition without getting the slightest bit of care, he had to wait several hours before being taken to hospital. Today, Marius still suffers from the physical and...