Burunga : CNIDH calls attention to detention abuses and judicial pressure

SOS Médias Burundi

Burunga, August 23, 2025 – The National Independent Human Rights Commission (CNIDH) is sounding the alarm : many citizens are spending long months in detention without any clear case being established against them.

According to Monsignor Martin Blaise Nyaboho, Chairperson of the CNIDH, some incarcerations are ordered by authorities who insist on “keeping” people in prison until they themselves decide on their release.

From August 21 to 22, 2025, the CNIDH organized a restitution workshop in Nyanza-Lac, in Burunga province (southern Burundi), bringing together key stakeholders in the criminal justice system. Objective : exposing irregularities in detention and the handling of torture cases, and to propose avenues for reform.

“This workshop is part of a series of meetings and discussions we are organizing to raise awareness among judicial officials of the abuses observed,” explained Monsignor Nyaboho.

Judges under pressure

Beyond the detainees, judges report experiencing a stifling climate. Some hesitate to render court decisions for fear of reprisals. Several judges in the south of the country have already been imprisoned, while others, although acquitted, have never returned to their posts.

“Working as a judge today means running the risk of being arrested, transferred far from one’s family, or dismissed,” several judges testified. As a result, many leave the judiciary to become lawyers, hoping to escape the pressure.

The President of the Bururi Court of Appeal, Jean Paul Mukangara, however, downplays these cases, stating that they are “rare” given the number of cases heard and insisting on the constitutional independence of the judges.

Lack of resources and judicial dysfunctions

Workshop participants also highlighted the glaring lack of logistical and material resources:

No prosecutor’s office in the south of the country has a vehicle to carry out its duties.

Judicial police officers lack even simple sheets of paper to prepare reports.

These shortcomings slow down case management, unnecessarily prolong pretrial detention, and worsen prison overcrowding.

Alarming prison conditions

Undignified detention conditions are regularly denounced: prisoners locked in containers, such as in the Vyanda cell (formerly Bururi province), or a Bururi prison that currently holds 324 inmates against an initial capacity of 250.

All of these testimonies reveal a profound malaise : a justice system weakened by pressure and a lack of resources, and an overwhelmed prison system where fear and irregularities sometimes replace law and justice.