Introduction
On 21st August 2024, Amnesty International published a briefing titled “Burundi: Rhetoric versus Reality; Repression of Civil Society Continues under President Ndayishimiye’s Government,” highlighting ongoing restrictions on civic space in Burundi. The report documents the severe challenges Burundian civil society has faced over the past four years and provides recommendations to safeguard fundamental freedoms before, during and after the 2025 parliamentary elections.
On 10th October 2025, the UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution A/HRC/57/22, titled “Situation of Human Rights in Burundi”, which extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Burundi. The resolution strongly condemns widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture, and sexual and gender-based violence. It also denounces the prevailing impunity and the shrinking space for free expression, civil society, political participation, and judicial independence. The Council urges Burundi, whose three-year membership runs from 2024 to 2026, to uphold international human rights standards and fully cooperate with UN mechanisms.
On 9th December 2024, DefendDefenders launched a report on the security and protection of human rights defenders (HRDs), including journalists, during election periods in Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The four countries are scheduled to hold elections between 2025 and 2027. The report reveals that stifling freedom of expression, participation, association and peaceful assembly continues to restrict HRDs from carrying out their work to call for transparent democratic processes, demand accountability, justice, respect for the rule of law and good governance in the electoral cycle. The report also makes recommendations to key stakeholders and sets out practical safety and security tips for HRDs, including journalists.
Association
On 3rd January 2025, Burundi’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) disqualified candidates from the Burundi Bwa Bose (Burundi for All) coalition from the June 2025 legislative elections. Although the Interior Ministry officially recognized the coalition on 17th December 2024, CENI ruled that its candidates, who were MPs in the National Assembly under the opposition Congrès National pour la Liberté (CNL), violated electoral laws. The rejection followed President Évariste Ndayishimiye’s decree restricting eligibility rules, requiring individuals who leave a party to wait for at least one year before running for office – and extending the period to two years for party leaders. A CNL faction condemned the rules as an attempt to exclude former presidential runner-up Agathon Rwasa, who was ousted from its own party, CNL, in March 2024. Rwasa challenged the decision in court, but on 7th January 2025, the Constitutional Court upheld the disqualification. However, the court allowed Burundi Bwa Bose to resubmit its candidate lists, prompting the coalition to confirm its participation in the June elections.
On 6th January 2025, members of the ruling Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie’s (CNDD-FDD) youth league, the Imbonerakure militia, detained Julienne Nzobomimpa and Léonard Banzira, two members of the opposition party Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), in Butaha Hills, Bubanza Province. They reportedly forced them to renounce their FRODEBU membership and join the ruling CNDD-FDD.
On 11th January 2025, four Imbonerakure reportedly attacked two CNL opposition members over their political affiliation. Authorities have detained two suspects, while the other two remain at large.
Expression
On 14th August 2024, President Évariste Ndayishimiye signed a decree granting journalist Floriane Irangabiye’s release after 18 months in detention. Authorities arrested Irangabiye in August 2022 upon her return to Burundi from Rwanda. They sentenced her in January 2023 to ten years in prison for “threatening the integrity of the territory”, as previously documented on the Monitor. Despite widespread protests from media organisations and HRDs, courts upheld her conviction even as her health deteriorated. However, according to the BBC, her longstanding health condition has worsened, and she is unlikely to return to her role at the media company critical of Burundi’s government.
On 16th December 2024, a court sentenced journalist Sandra Muhoza to 21 months in prison. As previously documented on the Monitor, authorities arrested her for sharing a message in a WhatsApp group for media professionals about the government’s alleged distribution of machetes in March 2024. The court imposed an 18 month sentence for “undermining the integrity of the national territory” and three months for “racial aversion”. The prosecution initially sought a 12-year sentence, raising concerns about press freedom and the criminalisation of information sharing. The appeal she lodged is due to be examined in March 2025.