Burundi

Burundi
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Burundi
147 articles

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa: A profille

As the crisis in Burundi threatens to tip back into civil war with escalating killings of demonstrators and government opponents, at its epicentre is the calm figure of human rights defender Pierre Claver Mbonimpa.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Ciri, northern Burundi, 17 May 2018 during the referendum on constitutional reforms, -/AFP/Getty Images

Media clampdown intensified ahead of Burundi referendum

Burundi’s landscape, prior to the referendum to revise its constitution, featured divisive language, hate speech, intimidation, threats and violence against the media, including the banning of broadcasting stations.

Students wait for class to resume after recess at Nyabitare Primary School in Ruyigi, Burundi, 9 June 2006, Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images

Radio journalist Jean-Claude Nshimirimana told he will be jailed if he continues working

Reporter Jean-Claude Nshimirimana was threatened by the Govenor in Eastern Burundi for airing a story on the discontent amongst teachers and principals who were allegedly requested to pay a voluntary tax to fund the general elections to be held in 2020.

A protester carries a placard urging the government to re-open their local Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) in Burundi's capital Bujumbura, 29 April 2015, REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Burundi: Communications council rescinds media licenses

Announcing the decision on 28 September, Burundi’s National Council for Communication (CNC) said Radio Publique Africaine, Radio Bonesha, Radio Renaissance and Télévision Renaissance were having their licences rescinded for spending more than three months without broadcasting and for “failing to sort out their judicial status in time.”

Burundian police officers patrol outside the Court of Appeal in Gitega, east of the capital Bujumbura, 4 January 2016, REUTERS/Jean Pierre Aime Harerimana

Where is Burundian reporter Jean Bigirimana?

A reporter for the independent news website Iwacu, reporter Jean Bigirimana left his home in Bujumbura on the morning of 22 July 2016 to meet a contact in Bugarama. He told his wife he would be back for lunch. She never saw him again.

A protest held on 26 April 2016 outside U.N. headquarters in New York, calling for an end to political atrocities and human rights violations unfolding in Burundi, AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

UPR submission highlights Burundi’s “markedly worsening situation” for free expression

A Universal Period Review submission by ARTICLE 19 and its partner organisations addresses a markedly worsening situation for freedom of expression and freedom of association in Burundi since its last UPR.

Radio Isanganiro staff celebrate the station's 13th anniversary in November 2015, Radio Isanganiro

Interrogation of Radio Isanganiro editor latest attack on free speech in Burundi

Burundi’s National Intelligence Service has accused Radio Isanganiro editor Joseph Nsabiyabandi of stirring up public opinion and inciting revolt, without citing any specific report corroborates these accusations.

Demonstrators run from soldiers firing into the air to disperse a crowd of demonstrators who had cornered Jean Claude Niyonzima, a suspected member of the Imbonerakure in Bujumbura, Burundi, 7 May 2015, AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Burundians afraid to speak out as ruling party youth league kill, torture opponents

“Burundians live in fear of the next attack, afraid to speak out to denounce the killings, torture, and other abuses.”

Demonstrators run from soldiers firing into the air to disperse a crowd of demonstrators who had cornered Jean Claude Niyonzima, a suspected member of the Imbonerakure in Bujumbura, Burundi, 7 May 2015, AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Burundians afraid to speak out as ruling party youth league kill, torture opponents

“Burundians live in fear of the next attack, afraid to speak out to denounce the killings, torture, and other abuses.”

Journalists with tape on their mouths gather on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, in Bujumbura, Burundi, 3 May 2015, AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Burundian human rights groups closed for “being liable to disturb state security”

Five civil society and human rights groups have been provisionally closed for “being liable to disturb order and state security.” They include the Burundian Union of Journalists (UBJ), which has repeatedly condemned media freedom violations since Burundi’s political crisis began in May 2015.

Campaign to free Jean Bigirimana, Iwacu

Where is Burundian journalist Jean Bigirimana?

It is exactly one month since 37-year-old journalist Jean Bigirimana vanished after leaving his home in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, for Bugarama, a town about 40 kilometers away. There are unconfirmed reports that he was arrested there by members of the intelligence services, but his whereabouts remain unknown.

Link to: Burundian journalists face regime threat both locally and abroad

Burundian journalists face regime threat both locally and abroad

Boaz Ntaconayigize, a Bonesha FM journalist who had fled into exile, was stabbed by four men in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, just a week after he told his editor that Burundian intelligence agents had infiltrated the Burundian refugee community there.

Senior staff at the Radio Publique Africaine work inside their broadcasting studio in Bujumbura, Burundi, 26 April 2015, REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Nine months after, Radio Publique Africaine technician still detained

The peculiar case of a radio worker in secret detention in the Congo who is accused of both spying for Rwanda and aiming to destabilize Burundi.

A suspect is handcuffed and detained by policemen after a grenade attack of Burundi's capital Bujumbura, 3 February 2016, REUTERS/Jean Pierre Aime Harerimama

Burundian intelligence services torture suspected opponents

Intelligence officials told some detainees they would be killed if they spoke about their treatment and ordered others to lie or promise not to talk to human rights groups. Intelligence agents have followed and threatened people suspected of giving information to human rights groups.

A protester carries a placard urging the government to re-open their local Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) in Burundi's capital Bujumbura, 29 April 2015, REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

From radio silence to virtual airwaves: A conversation with SOS Médias Burundi

How the destruction of private radio stations affects access to information about the Burundi crisis, and what one anonymous media collective is doing about it.

Residents look on as police and soldiers guard a voting station inBujumbura during Burundi's presidential elections, 21 July 2015, REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Two foreign reporters arrested amidst escalating violence in Burundi

French reporter Jean-Philippe Rémy, who covers Africa for the French daily Le Monde, and British freelance photographer Philip Moore were among a total of 17 persons arrested on 28 January 2016.