Burundi: Lawyer Detained Arbitrarily For Nearly 2-Yrs

Tony Germain Nkina worked with APRODH, one of Burundi’s most active and best-known human rights organizations, until it was closed down by the government in 2015. His prosecution and unlawful detention are based on the unfounded accusation that he collaborated with the armed opposition group, RED-Tabara (Resistance for the Rule of Law). Since the Burundi 2015 crisis, following the late President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term in office, the government has accused RED-Tabara of being responsible for a series of armed attacks across the country, including attacks that had occurred in Kayanza province in early October 2020.

Burundi’s civil society and media organizations were among the first targets of the government’s repression in 2015. The government suspended or closed most independent human rights organizations and media outlets and drove them into exile. Despite some overtures by President Ndayishimiye towards the media in 2021, the Burundian government continues to view human rights work with suspicion, and severe restrictions on human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, remain in place.

Most independent human rights organizations have been unable to resume their activities in Burundi, especially as the Burundian authorities have issued arrest warrants for many of their leading activists in exile. 12 human rights defenders and journalists were among a group of 34 people sentenced to life in prison in absentia in June 2020 on accusations of involvement in an attempted coup in May 2015; the Supreme Court judgment was not made public until February 2021.

Arrest or detention as punishment for the peaceful exercise of human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, is arbitrary and violates the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which Burundi is a state party. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that those detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights must be immediately released.