Burundi: Government must now act to stamp out torture and impunity

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

5 February 2002
AFR 16/002/2002
22/02

"Burundi's new transitional government must not waste an historic
opportunity to end the blight of torture and impunity,"Amnesty
International said today as it made public a Memorandum addressed
to Burundi's transitional authorities and the international
community.

The Memorandum, An opportunity to confront torture and
impunity, was submitted to the new authorities in late December.
Despite the ongoing human rights crisis, the transitional
government has yet to give any clear sign that it will make
tackling these and other human rights issues a priority.

Torture and ill-treatment in security force custody
continue to devastate the lives of hundreds of ordinary Burundian
people. Despite the recent political changes, Amnesty
International continues to receive reports of torture at an
alarming rate. The problem is underpinned by a culture of
impunity, encouraged by decades of government refusal to
meaningfully investigate and prosecute those responsible for
gross human rights violations.

Amnesty International has attached to its Memorandum five
illustrative cases exemplifying the excesses of the Burundian
security forces, and of a political and judicial establishment
that is failing in its duty to provide justice or to apply it
even-handedly.

Salvator Ndagijimana, 15 years old, was stabbed with a
bayonet on his arm and ankle while held in incommunicado military
detention in Bujumbura, Burundi's capital, in June 2001,
following his arrest on suspicion of collaboration with an armed
opposition group and the murder of a local government official.
No investigation into the allegation of torture has been carried
out.

Gabriel Gisabwamana, a Hutu member of parliament was
forced to kneel and then shot dead at point blank range after
refusing to accompany soldiers to a military post (translators :
position militaire) in Bujumbura in December 1999. In September
2001, a soldier was convicted of his killing, sentenced to 18
months' imprisonment and, as he had already spent 18 months in
detention, he was immediately released. He was also fined the
equivalent of one US dollar.

In February 1999, the military Court of Appeal found
three soldiers including one officer guilty of involvement in the
killing of at least 54 people in December 1996. The majority of
those killed were civilian women and children, some of whom were
only a few months old. Although the court ruled that some of
those killed were combatants, it also found that unarmed
civilians, including young children, had been stabbed or
bayoneted to death, and that therefore the argument of legitimate
defence, raised by the defence, was not valid. The court then
sentenced the soldiers to prison terms ranging from one to two
years.

These cases are exceptional -- soldiers accused of
involvement in human rights violations are rarely arrested, and
even more rarely tried. Paradoxically, the few trials which have
taken place confirm the impunity of the security forces through
the levity of sentencing and demonstrate clearly the contempt of
the security forces for the lives of civilians.

The impunity of the security forces is further
demonstrated by the case of Déogratias Bakundukize, who continued
to work as a police officer despite his alleged involvement in
and subsequent conviction of the death in custody of two
detainees on seperate occasions.

"These cases, and many more, demonstrate why urgent steps
need to be taken to prevent torture, end impunity and provide a
justice system that works in the interests of all citizens,"
Amnesty International siad." The organization does not
underestimate the difficulties of restoring respect for human
rights in a context of bitterness, mistrust and lack of
accountability, let alone in the context of on-going armed
conflict. Yet failure to do so will not only jeopardize the peace
process and transitional institutions but also the future of the
human rights of the Burundian people."

Amnesty International's Memorandum underlines the
importance of investigating human rights abuses carried out
during the transitional period, bringing the perpetrators to
justice and providing victims with redress.

The Transitional Government should end incommunicado
detention; introduce a full right to appeal, and reform of the
legal system so as to ensure that members of the security forces
accused of human rights violations are tried before civilian
rather than military courts.

Amnesty International is also calling on the
international community to:
urgently assist in the reconstruction of an effective criminal
justice system;

promote and provide human rights training within the security
forces;

support UN initiatives such as the program of judicial assistance
and human rights monitoring to ensure greater effectiveness and
increased political support;

support independent human rights organizations including by
providing financial and other material resources;

carefully monitor the human rights situation in Burundi and human
rights record of the Transitional Government of Burundi.

****************************************************************
You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting
Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the
list subscription message may be removed.
****************************************************************
To subscribe to amnesty-L, send a message to
with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe,
send a message to with "unsubscribe amnesty-L"
in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact
. handles
only messages concerning list administration. Past and current Amnesty
news services can be found at .
Visit for information about Amnesty International
and for other AI publications. Contact [email protected] if you
need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International.