Amnesty International submits this briefing in advance of the United Nations (UN) Committee against Torture’s (the Committee) review of a special report from Burundi at its 58th session in July and August 2016. The Committee reviewed Burundi’s second periodic report on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention) at its 53rd session in November 2014. Since then, the human rights situation in Burundi has deteriorated dramatically, following President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision in April 2015 to stand for a third term in office. This move was seen by many as a violation of the Burundian Constitution and the Arusha Agreement that ended a decade of civil war in Burundi. Protests against this decision were held in the streets of Bujumbura and in some other parts of the country, and were met with violent repression by Burundian security forces. The following months were marked by recurrent extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture and other ill-treatment, among other serious human rights violations.
