Paying the Price

Map of Burundi

I. Summary

II. Recommendations

To the Government of Burundi

To United Nations (UN) Agencies working in Burundi, including the Integrated Office of the United Nations in Burundi (BINUB)

To International Donors

III. Methods

IV. Background

Political context

Children in conflict with the law...

Orphans and child labor

Crimes related to the war

V. Failings in the Criminal and Penitential Systems

Ill treatment and forced confessions

Delays in the justice system...

Violations of the right to counsel and ability to prepare a defense..

VI. Conditions of Incarceration

Violation of the right to dignity and hygiene..

Lack of separation from adults

Sexual violence and prostitution..

Lack of proper food and nutrition..

Lack of access to education..

VII. Recent Government Action

The draft penal law...

Presidential initiatives to release prisoners

VIII. International Support for Prisons and Justice

The United Nations' role..

IX. National and International Legal Standards on Children in Conflict with the Law..

Safeguards in detention..

Due process

Access to fundamental rights in detention..

X. Annex: Analysis of Mpimba Interviews

XI. Acknowledgements