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Burundi

Monthly Updates

December 2022

On 20 December, Tony Germain Nkina, a lawyer and former employee of a leading Burundian human rights organization, was acquitted of all charges by the appeal court of Ngozi. The lawyer and human rights activist had been arrested on 13 October 2020 and accused of collaborating with rebel movements. Human Rights Watch noted that it was “a rare instance of judicial independence in Burundi.” Even though the prosecutor first chose not to sign the release order and intended to file an appeal to the Supreme Court, Mr Nkina was freed from prison on 27 December. The case was then sent back to the Ngozi Court of Appeal, which cleared him at the end of 2022.

September 2022
Watch flag

With the support of the country’s parliament, Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye sacked his Prime Minister, Alain Bunyoni, and cabinet chief, General Gabriel Nizigama, after alleging a coup plot by unnamed individuals. Fifty-four provincial police commissioners were also sacked or redeployed. It was reported that all those who were purged were loyalists of Ndayishimiye’s deceased predecessor, Pierre Nkurunziza, with Bunyoni having served as Nkurunziza’s police chief. Ndayishimiye’s relationship with Bunyoni had grown increasingly acrimonious in recent months, with some commentators attributing this to the fact that the Prime Minister’s business activities have been targeted as part of the President’s anti-corruption campaign. Burundi’s security agencies have a long history of involvement in the country’s politics, which has experienced numerous coups and coup attempts, including a coup attempt in 2015. Commentators have suggested that the purge is unlikely to end tensions between the President and powerful securocrats.  

August 2022

Burundi’s President, Évariste Ndayishimiye, issued a presidential decree dismissing 40 magistrates for “corruption” and “mismanagement”. According to the decree, the magistrates, who are from the higher and lower courts, are to receive prison sentences ranging from 1 to 30 years in length. These are the first magistrates to be dismissed by Ndayishimiye as part of his anti-corruption drive. In September 2021 the United Nation's Commission of Inquiry on Burundi identified judicial corruption as a prevalent issue but criticized the measures taken by Ndayishimiye’s government to tackle it, stating that they were aimed at strengthening executive control over the judiciary and were likely to be counterproductive.

Explore past monthly updates

GSoD Indices Data 2012-2021

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
12 255 430
System of government
Presidential system
Head of government
Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca (since 2022)
Head of government party
National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD)
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
38.2%
Women in upper chamber
41.0%
Last legislative election
2020
Head of state
President Évariste Ndayishimiye
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
18/01/2018
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
51.65%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
Signatory
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
State Party
in
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Attributes Over Time

Representative government neutral Representative Government
Sep 2022
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2023
Representative government neutral Fundamental rights
Sep 2022
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2023
Representative government neutral Checks on government
Sep 2022
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2023
Representative government neutral Impartial administration
Sep 2022
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2023
Representative government neutral Participatory engagement
Sep 2022
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb 2023

GSoD Indices

Regime type
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