“Relentless repression” continues under President Evariste Ndayishimiye, according to Amnesty International

The rise to power of Evariste Ndayishimiye had raised a “fragile hope” of democratic opening, but the government continues to carry out “relentless repression”, according to an Amnesty International report.

The human rights situation is not improving in Burundi. President Evariste Ndayishimiye continues to lead a “relentless repression”with arrests and “unfair trials”against critical voices in Burundi, despite the “fragile hope” sparked by his arrival in power in 2020, Amnesty International said in a report published on Wednesday 20 August.

Former secretary general of the ruling party (CNDD-FDD), Evariste Ndayishimiye succeeded Pierre Nkurunziza, who died in June 2020, who had ruled this small country in the Great Lakes region with an iron fist for around fifteen years, marked by the bloody repression in 2015 of a protest movement against a third term for Pierre Nkurunziza (at least 1,200 dead).

His arrival in power had notably seen some signs of democratic opening welcomed by the international community, such as the release in December 2020 of several imprisoned journalists. But “Despite the fragile, yet well-founded, hope that the presidency and government of Evariste Ndayishimiye will end the period of repression, Burundi is witnessing the relentless repression targeting current and former members of civil society, as well as those who challenge the government’s human rights narrative.”says Amnesty International.

The NGO points out in particular “acts of intimidation and harassment, arrests, detentions and unfair trials targeting human rights defenders, activists, journalists and members of the opposition”Questioned by AFP, the secretary general and government spokesperson, Jérôme Niyonzima, did not respond on the substance, asking for the “list of these oppressed”.

Evoking “an uninterrupted wave of repression”the NGO returns in particular to the case of journalist Floriane Irangabiye, sentenced in May 2023 to 10 years in prison for “having undermined the integrity of the national territory” at the end of a trial “tainted by serious irregularities”. The journalist was finally pardoned by the president on August 14 and released. Burundi, one of the least developed countries in the world, is ranked 108th (out of 180) in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.