Human Rights in Burundi

Human Rights In Burundi

Burundi is governed as a presidential representative democratic republic, with an estimated population of 10,557,259. The country has experienced a long history of social unrest and ethnic tension between the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority, with successive civil wars jeopardizing national development since Burundi’s decolonization as a Belgian territory in 1962. The most recent conflict broke out in 1993 with the assassination of Burundi’s first democratically elected President, Melchior Ndadaye, and led to large-scale violations of human rights and general impunity. In line with the Arusha Agreement of August 2000, peace was brokered between rebel groups the National Council for the Defense of Democracy–Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) and the National Forces of Liberation (FNL), and a new Constitution was adopted by national referendum in 2005. The Constitution established cognitive institutions of State, including the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislature, with a view to promoting the rule of law and a more cogent human rights framework.

In 2010, the incumbent CNDD-FDD party won its second municipal elections, despite accusations of intimidation, fraud, inciting political violence, and restricting freedoms of association and expression around election time. Accordingly, the legitimacy of these newly established institutions of State has been drawn into question in light of the irregularities and repression of the elections. The major challenge facing the advancement of human rights in Burundi continues to stem from the continuance of political volatility, and the persistence of discriminatory remedies of Customary Law in the absence of an accountable justice system.

Burundi has, since gaining its independence, been cited as a State guilty of widespread violations of human rights. A 2010 Transparency International report named Burundi as the most corrupt country in East Africa.