BUJUMBURA, November 29th (ABP) – As part of the project to support access to justice, the rule of law and social cohesion in Burundi, the Independent National Human Rights Commission (CNIDH), presented on Thursday, November 28, 2024, the results from trips made prisons.
Those trips were made to Makamba, Bururi, Mwaro, Gitega and Karusi provinces. According to the chairman of CNIDH, Sixte Vigny Nimuraba, those trips were made by the commission, as part of the protection and defense of human rights. During unannounced visits to those places of detention over the past six months, the CNIDH has recorded irregularities and violations of the rights of prisoners who deserve to be free, Nimuraba said.
Among these violations, Nimuraba said, are the right to be informed of the facts for which one is being prosecuted, the detention of criminally irresponsible minors, the lack of qualification of offenses, exceeding the legal period of police custody and the absence of police custody reports drawn up by Judicial Police Officers (OPJ). For him, the reality on the ground proves that the treatment of detainees does not always respect human rights, despite the presumption of innocence of detainees at the pre-judicial stage. “Whether they are still in police custody, in preventive detention or already convicted, persons deprived of their liberty should benefit from fair treatment that respects human dignity and other fundamental rights, except the right to freedom of movement,” Nimuraba stressed.
Therefore, he took the opportunity to call on all officials, including the CNIDH, to correct the mistakes made in the past, knowingly or through ignorance. Moreover, the protection and promotion of human rights is an iterative work that requires the synergy of actors, underscored the chairman of the CNIDH. “Hand in hand, building a country that respects human rights is a possible challenge for the full development of current and future generations,” he concluded.