Explore...

Until 2011, Clement (alias), a political opponent, used to work as a teacher. He has been arrested at home by security forces, under the false pretext of threatening the security of the state. Taken by force to a police station, the security personal attempted to extort a confession from him. On the spot, he has been subjected to several acts of torture and receiv...

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...

Désiré (not his real name), a Burundian citizen, had joined the National Liberation Forces (FNL) movement when he was scarcely more than a child. After his demobilization, he decided to live a peaceful life with his wife and their child. But the calm was short-lived. In 2010, a wave of insecurity swept across the country after the opposition contested the election...

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...

Claude (real name withheld) was stopped in the street by Burundian State agents. Without any explanations, they simply threatened him with a weapon and ordered him to follow them, confiscating his car keys. During Claude’s interrogation, they tried by all means to make him “confess” fictitious facts: blows all over his body with bats and iron wires, suspension by...

Burundi - mandated by TRIAL, a lawyer filed a complaint on behalf of M. Busuguru, who died in prison of tuberculosis one year ago to the day. In the light of neglect by the penitentiary authorities, the latter are accused of involuntary manslaughter. Consult the French version to see the full news.

Civil society seeks justice for the first time before the African Commission for cases of extrajudicial killings that remained unpunished before the national judicial authorities. NGOs have submitted four complaints to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. These include several cases of extrajudicial killings committed between 2010 and 2012. Several...

On December 11, 2013, TRIAL completed its first training program in Burundi on how to submit individual complaints before the UN treaty bodies. The eight lawyers and Human Rights defenders who graduated from this 15-month long training received their training diploma during an event organised in their honour with the support of the Human Rights and Justice Section of...

The first cases ever brought against Burundi to the UN Committee against Torture were recently submitted by TRIAL. Already seven victims of torture and arbitrary detention have, with the support of TRIAL, handed their case to the UN to seek justice. In Burundi, TRIAL also works to strengthen the civil society capacities by organising training courses for lawyers and N...

In December 2012, TRIAL prepared a document containing recommendations in light of the upcoming exam of the human rights situation in Burundi by the Human Rights Council  in January 2013 in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review.