SHAFAQNA- UN-appointed investigators have issued fresh warnings about ongoing rights violations and impunity in Burundi.
In a new report requested by the Human Rights Council, the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said that there had been “little” in the way of “positive changes” since President Evariste Ndayishimiye “assumed office” in June.
Commission of Inquiry member Francoise Hampson described evidence of serious human rights violations during this year’s elections, including summary executions, torture and sexual violence, news.un.org reported.
“In recent weeks there have continued to be killings, there have continued to be arbitrary detentions and there have continued to be disappearances,” she said. “So it’s slightly surprising that it is continuing as it was even though elections have finished. And that is a matter of very grave concern.”
This was because key positions in the new Government included individuals who had been identified as having committed rights violations in previous administrations, who face international sanctions.
With over half of the Burundian population under 18 years of age, the investigators also focused this year on the serious violations of human rights committed on children and adolescents, according to reliefweb.
Following the 2020 presidential, legislative and local elections, the fifteen-year presidency of Pierre Nkurunziza came to a close and a new era under President Évariste Ndayishimiye began.