Situation of Human Rights in Burundi

A/HRC/RES/54/20View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 4Human rights situations that require the Council's attention, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

9 versions · 2016–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/60/15

2025A/HRC/RES/60/15Situation of human rights in BurundiLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/HRC/RES/57/22Situation of human rights in BurundiCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/54/20Situation of human rights in BurundiCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/51/28Situation of human rights in BurundiCompare with previous version
2021A/HRC/RES/48/16Situation of human rights in BurundiCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Accountability Burundi Civil and Political Rights Field Offices Human Rights Human Rights Violations Special Rapporteurs

What does this mandate say?

13 operative paragraphs

Strongly condemns all human rights violations and abuses committed in Burundi, including those involving extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrest and detention, acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and sexual and gender-based violence, and calls for an immediate end to these violations and abuses and for the full respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Urges the Government of Burundi to guarantee the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association, and deplores the reduced space for civil society, citizen activism, political participation and a free and fair judiciary, encourages the Government to consolidate the progress made in the field of the media, and stresses the need for the Government to provide a safe and enabling environment for civil society, human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and other media workers, including women working in these professions, to carry out their work independently, without intimidation or undue interference, and to release all those who are still in detention for doing their work in defence of human rights;

Condemns the widespread impunity for all human rights violations and abuses, and urges the Government of Burundi to hold all perpetrators, regardless of their affiliation or status, including members of defence and security forces and of the ruling party’s youth league, the Imbonerakure, accountable for their actions, and to ensure that victims can seek justice and legal redress, and encourages the Government to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

Calls upon the Government of Burundi to guarantee the independence of the judiciary from the executive branch;

Also calls upon the Government of Burundi to provide the National Independent Human Rights Commission with all the means necessary to perform its function of promoting and protecting human rights in line with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), and to ensure its independence;

Further calls upon the Government of Burundi to fully implement the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi and the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi in their reports, as well as those accepted in the context of the universal periodic review, and to cooperate fully with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and relevant treaty bodies;

Calls upon the Government of Burundi to refrain from all acts of intimidation or reprisal against human rights defenders, including those who are cooperating with international human rights mechanisms and the Human Rights Council;

Encourages the Government of Burundi to engage in a genuine and inclusive spirit with all Burundian stakeholders, operating from both inside and outside the country, to effectively address the multiple, deep-rooted challenges that Burundi is experiencing and to sustainably reintegrate returnees into Burundian society;

Decides to extend the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi for a further period of one year, and requests the Special Rapporteur to present to the Human Rights Council, at its fifty-sixth session, an oral update on the situation of human rights in Burundi, and also to submit to the Council, at its fifty-seventh session, and to the General Assembly, at its seventy-ninth session, a comprehensive report;

Urges the Government of Burundi to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur, including by permitting unhindered access to the country, providing him with all the information necessary to properly fulfil the mandate, and facilitating cooperative exchanges and synergies with the National Independent Human Rights Commission, in line with the public commitments made by the current administration to advance human rights and re-engage with the international community;

Also urges the Government of Burundi to constructively cooperate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in particular its Regional Office for Central Africa, and to present a timeline for the reopening of the country office of the Office of the High Commissioner in Burundi, and to continue to cooperate with the United Nations country team in Burundi;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with the assistance and all resources necessary to fulfil the mandate with all its functions, as outlined by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 48/16;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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