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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...