Burundi

“It has already been demonstrated that this court is neither competent nor impartial, so the request for a life sentence is further evidence that the trial is a travesty orchestrated by the government,” RSF said.

The report also highlights numerous cases in which individuals were threatened, forced into hiding, and murdered as a result of their perceived political leanings.

A reporter for Bonesha FM and RFI’s Swahili-language service, Hassan Ruvakuki was arrested on 28 November 2011 after interviewing an alleged rebel group member.

RSF asked Manirakiza about the situation of journalists in Burundi, which has worsened markedly this year, and about the government’s increasing harassment of the media.

Hassan Ruvakuki’s arrest may have been prompted by Bonesha FM’s broadcast of an interview with a Burundian citizen who identified himself as commander of a new rebel group in eastern Burundi.

“Attacks on press freedom have increased since the massacre in Gatumba at the end of September and have become almost daily in recent days,” says RSF.

The support is especially crucial because the UN Human Rights Council has ended the mandate of its independent expert on the human rights situation, says Human Rights Watch.

The authorities have banned all live broadcasts of a political nature for one month and forbidden the media from covering the official inquiry launched into the massacre.

Although the release of two of three lawyers arrested since mid-July was a positive step, the government should immediately end the harassment of both lawyers and journalists, Human Rights Watch and CPJ said.

Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) and Radio Isanganiro, which are critical of the government, are being singled out by the authorities, says RSF.

Claude Kavumbagu was acquitted on a charge of treason for questioning in an article whether the country would be able to protect itself against a terrorist attack by Somalia’s Islamist militia Al-Shabaab.

Journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu, who has been imprisoned since July 2010 over a column critical of the country’s security forces, faces a life sentence on a charge of treason.

The government refused to issue a permit to a group of Burundian organizations that requested authorization to hold a silent protest march on the anniversary of Ernest Manirumva’s killing.

The ban on the Forum for the Strengthening of Civil Society was lifted after the government responded positively to the group’s efforts to reengage in dialogue.

CPJ made the call at a press conference marking the end of a four-day mission to Burundi.

Journalists and civil society activists who express critical views are labelled political opponents and subjected to arrests and threats.