Over the past year, the government continued to restrict space for civil society, independent media, and political opposition. Impunity for human rights violations persists, including for those who perpetrated abuses during the 2015 crisis, and is compounded by a deteriorating security situation. Cases of enforced disappearance and arbitrary arrest remain of concern in the context of the upcoming 2025 legislative and municipal elections.
The country is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, characterized by 26 percent inflation and over half of the population living in poverty, according to the United Nations. Burundians face shortages of fuel, water, and electricity outages, which have affected the delivery of public services essential to rights such as health care and education.
Political Space
The ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), continues to exercise control over institutions, the National Intelligence Service (SNR), and the Imbonerakure youth league, which is an auxiliary to local law enforcement and the military. The Imbonerakure continue to commit abuses against the population, taking part in beatings, harassment, arbitrary detention, and killings of people suspected of being opponents of the ruling party. In 2024, they contributed to military operations in South Kivu, in neighboring eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and took part in trainings. The year was marked by an uptick in hate speech and inflammatory rhetoric, including at the highest political level.
A new electoral code was adopted in April, raising the cost of registering to stand for elections, including to up to 100 million Burundian Francs (approximately US$34,700) for presidential candidates. This risks hindering the ability of Burundians to contest elections. The new code also establishes that candidates leaving a political party must wait two years before they can run as independent candidates. This measure would prevent the only remaining opposition leader, Agathon Rwasa, who was ousted from the leadership of the opposition political party National Congress for Freedom (Congrès National pour la Liberté, CNL) in March 2024, from standing in the 2025 elections.
On January 17, the interior minister wrote to the CNL, accusing the party of collaborating with a terrorist organization and threatening “consequences.” The CNL responded by informing the minister of its intention to hold an extraordinary convention on March 2, with the resolution of the party’s internal crisis on the agenda. The minister recommended that the party review and implement the recommendations contained in its June 2023 letter before considering organizing a national convention. The general assembly voted to remove Rwasa.
Media Freedom
Threats and repression against journalists and human rights defenders continued. An August presidential decree granted journalist Floriane Irangabiye a pardon, which resulted in her release two days later. However, another journalist, Sandra Muhoza, remains arbitrarily detained. On May 2, journalist Ahmadi Radjabu was arrested as he was recording footage of a fire at the Ruvumera market and detained for two weeks, according to media reports.
One of the last remaining independent media in Burundi, Iwacu, received threats throughout the year. On June 5, two police officers attempted to detain Pascal Ntakirutimana, an Iwacu journalist, in Bujumbura, according to news reports and a report by the outlet. The next day, Iwacu received a letter from the media regulator, Conseil National pour la Communication (CNC), accusing the outlet of professional faults in its reporting.
The CNC banned the rebroadcasting of two episodes of Bonesha FM radio talk shows in June on the grounds that the guests had exaggerated, according to a national rights group. On May 22, a senior police officer assaulted Iwacu reporter Jean-Noël Manirakiza at a restaurant in the country’s political capital, Gitega, according to Iwacu and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The media law was revised for the fourth time since 2013, without significant consultation. Even though the updated law partially decriminalizes media offences, making some offences subject to fines rather than prison terms, it does not meet international human rights standards. The proposed fines can go up to 1.5 million Burundian francs ($520).
According to media reports, the CNC prevented four private radio stations from broadcasting a media discussion on the draft law, stating that it was not yet time to comment on a law that had not yet been promulgated by the president.
Women and Children’s Rights
The government has failed to act to prevent acts of gender-based violence, including child marriage; 19 percent of girls are married before age 18. In March and April 2024, the authorities, including the police and the Imbonerakure, harassed and evicted from their homes hundreds of cohabitating couples who are not legally married, according to media reports. They forced some women in these relationships to relocate to their parents’ homes; some children were separated from their mothers and sent to live with the woman legally married to their father. They also coerced men into living with the women they were legally married to even if that relationship had long ended. The authorities claimed the actions were carried out in line with “moral and Christian order.”
Security and Regional Dynamics
Between December 2023 and February 2024, at least 28 people —including 11 children—were killed in two attacks, in border areas of Western Burundi. The RED-Tabara armed group (Resistance Movement for the Rule of Law-Tabara, Mouvement de la résistance pour un État de droit-Tabara) claimed responsibility for both attacks, but victim and witness accounts provided contradictory information to Human Rights Watch about the December Vugizo attack, and who was responsible for the killings. Armed assailants believed to belong to the RED-Tabara armed group killed residents, including women, during the second attack in February 2024, in Buringa, Bubanza province. Both villages are near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the armed group is based.
In April and May, there were at least three grenade explosions in Bujumbura, injuring at least 38 people, according to media reports. Pierre Nkurikiye, the Ministry of Security’s spokesman told reporters that six people had been arrested, and blamed RED-Tabara and Rwanda for carrying out the attacks. In a statement, the Rwandan government said it had no reason to engage in these activities. On May 12, RED-Tabara rejected the accusations.
These attacks have led to an escalation in tensions in the Great Lakes region. Following the December killings, Burundi’s president Évariste Ndayishimiye announced he was suspending diplomatic ties with Rwanda, closing their border, and would begin deporting Rwandan citizens, claiming it was in response to Rwanda’s alleged support for RED-Tabara. Rwanda denied the allegations.
The presence of troops from Burundi in operations against the M23 and Rwandan army has exacerbated tensions between Rwanda and Burundi.
Oversight, Justice, and Accountability
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burundi. Burundi continues to completely disregard its obligations as a member of the Council, including by denying the special rapporteur access to the country.
The National Independent Human Rights Commission’s (CNIDH) lack of independence means that there is no national mechanism able or willing to protect human rights. In June, the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions recommended that the CNIDH be downgraded from A to B status, due to its lack of independent monitoring and reporting on politically sensitive cases.
The International Criminal Court’s investigation into the situation in Burundi, which focuses on alleged crimes against humanity committed in Burundi between 2015 and 2017, continued.
In August, survivors and relatives of victims of a 2004 attack on the Gatumba refugee camp near Bujumbura, filed criminal cases against alleged perpetrators in their home countries of Burundi, Rwanda, and DR Congo. The complaints allege genocide and crimes against humanity.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Burundi’s penal code, under article 590, punishes same-sex relations with up to two years' imprisonment. In December 2023, Ndayishimiye incited violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, calling for them to be stoned.