Burundi

“Serious human rights violations have continued to be committed in Burundi since May 2018, in a general climate of impunity. Some of these violations constitute international crimes. Members of the youth league of the ruling party, the Imbonerakure, are the main perpetrators. Officers of the National Intelligence Service and the police, along with local administrative officials, are also frequently identified as perpetrators of such violations.”

It made history as the first country to quit the International Criminal Court. Then it kicked out the United Nations human rights office. Even as Burundi's vice president asserts in a rare interview that the troubled country is now peaceful, reports of abuses are up ahead of next year's election as some people worry President Pierre Nkurunziza will run once more.

Press freedom advocates are coming down hard on Burundi, after increasing restrictions prompted the BBC to shut down its bureau in the central African country this week. Burundian authorities have also suspended VOA from operating in the country since March and have threatened sanctions against Radio France International.

Burundi is facing at further global isolation after Human Rights Watch released a stinging report on rights abuses there. The report by the HRW tells of how ruling party youths have carried out dozens of beatings, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, and killings against real and suspected political opposition members, and called on the UN Security Council to increase scrutiny and impose targeted sanctions.

A U.N. commission on Burundi says the country is poised for another political crisis when it holds elections next year. The three-member commission of inquiry says the ruling party is trying to harass and intimidate opponents and creating the conditions for unfair elections. The chair of the commission of inquiry on Burundi warns the democratic space in the country is rapidly shrinking.

Talks about ending Burundi’s crisis – sparked by the president’s decision to seek a third term – have fizzled out. With elections nearing in 2020, tensions could flare. Strong regional pressure is needed to begin opening up the country’s political space before the balloting.

A UN Security Council meeting on the security and political situation in Burundi was held on Friday, as the country continues to grapple with a four-year-long crisis and is gearing up for new elections in 2020.

Burundi is threatening to cut ties with the UN envoy appointed to the country, ahead of elections next year that the government in Bujumbura insists are an internal matter, according to UN diplomats. The UN Security Council abruptly scrapped a meeting on Burundi scheduled for Tuesday after Burundi's government made clear it was ready to end relations with Michel Kafando, council diplomats said.

Burundi's chief justice has ordered the seizure of property belonging to jailed army officers and exiled opposition activists accused of supporting a supposed coup plot against President Pierre Nkurunziza.

A senior Burundi election official has called for independent media to be barred from covering the country's presidential polls in 2020, local press and witnesses reported Wednesday.