Burundi: Further information on execution / fear of further executions

Firmat Niyonkenguruka, Stanislas Machini, Ephraim Banka, Edouard Sahokwsawama, Pontien Bizumukama and Damien Nsabimana: At least 150 people are now under sentence of death in Burundi, and there are fears that they could face imminent execution. There is grave concern that flaws in pre-trial and trial procedures, such as torture, lack of substantiating evidence, lack of defence witnesses and lack of legal representation mean that the trials cannot be considered to have been impartial. At least 20 death sentences were passed in July 1997 in trials connected to the massacres which followed the assassination of former President Melchior Ndadaye in October 1993.