Burundi : the CNIDH resists its agony

The Independent National Human Rights Commission in Burundi, CNIDH, claims to have filed its appeal to try to recover its A status which it is losing on the horizon. It introduced cases of political prisoners, activists and journalists it followed to assert its independence. This happens at a time when its “A” status reserved for National Commissions which have proven their impartiality in relation to the powers in place was withdrawn by the United Nations and their partners. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The list of exculpatory evidence filed by Sixte Vigny Nimuraba, chairperson of the CNIDH, is in any case long.

It contains cases of political opponents and journalists who were released thanks to the monitoring activities, investigations and advocacy carried out by the commission.

“Around thirty cases of prisoners for political reasons, with all the details put on ten pages, mainly members of the CNL party. Quite a few journalists from the Iwacu, Bonesha FM, Isanganiro and BBC media outlets were either released or had their rights restored after the intervention of the CNIDH,” explained Mr. Nimuraba in a press briefing relating to that on Monday in the commercial city Bujumbura.

For him, the interventions of the CNIDH should rather be recognized.
“To say that the evaluators, if they are objective, should take inspiration from this to see whether the commission has really made an effort and not make such an ill-intentioned decision,” he added.

The CNIDH therefore contacted the authorized bodies, the UN Human Rights Council and the global alliance of national human rights institutions, to “reconsider the decision and objectively read the reasons we have put forward”.

The decision that the Burundian human rights body fiercely opposes is that taken by the accreditation subcommittee of the National Human Rights Institutions, CNIDH.

This is after a process which began in 2023 and which highlights the lack of independence of the CNIDH-Burundi, the minimization of serious human rights violations committed in the country, or even the absence of cooperation from this institution with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the commissions of inquiry into these violations.

On the other hand, the UN special rapporteur on Burundi and several Burundian, African and European human rights organizations had contacted the UN Human Rights Council and the alliance of national commissions to demote the Burundian body.

Conclusion last May : “the CNIDH has thus lost the A status twice, in less than six years, a decision which will have to come into force after one year”.

The CNIDH intends to take advantage of this grace period

“We have already contacted these bodies to contest this decision, we intend to continue our momentum in defending human rights to attract their attention, including economic and socio-cultural rights and we will fight this battle with other African commissions which sympathize with us,” reassures the president of the controversial Human Rights Commission in Burundi.

He also invites the UN authorities to carry out in-depth consultations to “be objective”.

“It’s amazing ! It is possible that we have consulted no one here in Burundi, no European or African embassy has been consulted, no civil society organization or to our knowledge the known media, which is a little abnormal,” said surprisingly Sixte Vigny Nimuraba.

Otherwise, he asks, “How can we be asked to go and form other commissions in Mali, Gabon, the Central African Republic and Cameroon whereas we are not a model in the eyes of these evaluators? In this case, how can we be demoted on the one hand, and on the other asked to intervene to help the commissions which are in the process of regaining their A status?

But, for its detractors, the Burundian commission deserves the punishment.

“The CNIDH has continued to oppose human rights defenders, while attempting to conceal the serious crimes committed, the CNIDH has never attested to the involvement of government agents in cases of forced disappearances,” recently noted lawyer Armel Niyongere, chairperson of ACAT-Burundi campaini6 for disciplinary measure against the CNIDH.

And this exiled activist noted: “The commission did not deserve to be in A status. The commission is not at all independent. In her reports, she says that everything is fine, that there are no human rights violations, while there were reports from the United Nations, from civil society organizations which showed that “there have been serious violations of human rights.”

However, the CNIDH is surprised to hear “its collaborators” use such language and maintain such accusations.

“For us, we believed that we must lead the same fight because the CNIDH consults them from time to time. We have never discriminated against cooperation, any person in exile or not, who has information on the violation of human rights is welcome. And we also provided evidence in our appeal,” underlines Sixte Vigny Nimuraba.

Nimuraba ends up believing that there is “something unsaid ”behind these actions of activists in exile. He says he does not understand why “the evaluators listen to them”.

Another point of contention is the production of “biased” reports, which have never shown exact figures for cases of violations and torture, or outright denied any violation.

On this point, the CNIDH is clear.

“No one dictates to us what we must put in our reports, which are sometimes not well received by the public authorities,” adds Mr. Nimuraba.

He says he is confident and hopes to win the battle in May 2025 when the relegation of the CNIDH to B status must be ratified.