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I. Summary

In the year to September 2006, Burundi’s state intelligence agency, now called the National Intelligence Service (Service National de Renseignement, SNR) appears to have been responsible for the extrajudicial execution of at least 38 individuals, and has tortured and arbitrarily detained some 200 more. These serious abuses have been perpetrated largely with impunity.¹  

A new government took office in August 2005 but its first year in power was marked by continued conflict with the last remaining active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (Forces Nationales pour la Liberation, FNL). A harsh campaign to punish FNL supporters led to many civilians being mistreated by government forces, particularly agents of the SNR.

Current legislation grants SNR agents a vague and broad investigative mandate, and subordinates agents to two different authorities, the head of the SNR and the office of the Prosecutor. The head of the SNR reports directly to the president of Burundi.

The intelligence agents are known to be particularly brutal in carrying out their missions and to often act outside the law.  There is no mechanism of external oversight by Parliament, and human rights monitors have only rarely been granted access to detainees inside of SNR detention facilities over the past year.

Recently, government authorities have arrested one SNR agent and an SNR associate on suspicion of having committed abuses in two particularly egregious cases in which investigations are reportedly underway.  The SNR agent’s arrest was in connection with the “disappearance” and presumed killing of some 30 people in July and August 2006. In the other case, five arrests were made for the execution of four men who were in state custody at the time of their deaths, and one of those arrested was found to be carrying an affidavit of affiliation with the SNR. Much more action is needed to investigate and prosecute abuses.

Civilian prosecutors should seek to establish responsibility at all levels of the chain of command in any investigations involving SNR abuses. If convictions for charges of killings and torture are rendered by the Burundian court, compensation should also be awarded to the victims and their families as provided for by Burundian national and international human rights law.

Legislation regulating any intelligence service should clarify the specific powers of agents and subject the service to close supervision generally by the executive, and by judicial authorities during investigations, arrests and detentions, as well as to more intensive scrutiny by Parliament.

This report is based on field research carried out by Human Rights Watch researchers in Burundi from October 2005 to October 2006. Names of victims and witnesses have been withheld in the interests of their security.

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