In Burundi, the Independent National Commission for Human Rights (CNIDH), considered by independent civil society and human rights NGOs as very close to power, has just made a splash for the first time two days ago. In a series of messages on X, she denounced the conditions of detention in the largest police station in Bujumbura, which she describes as “inhumane”.
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No less than 360 people without any records, including around forty women, some with babies under three years old, are crammed into a dungeon with a capacity to accommodate 46 detainees, according to the CNIDH. Some for over a month. And they only have at their disposal “ a toilet already filled and a single tap without running water », specifies the Human Rights Commission, which denounces “ inhumane and degrading conditions of detention » in one of his messages on the X network.
1/n: 322 men and 38 women with children under 3 years old are detained without records in the prison cell #BSR having a capacity of 46 people, with a full toilet and a single tap without running water.
— CNIDH-Burundi (@CNIDH_Bdi) October 12, 2023
More surprisingly, the CNIDH – Burundi did not hesitate to accuse the police commissioner of Bujumbura, Lieutenant-Colonel Jacques Nijimbere of having refused to release his prisoners despite several interventions including that of the Attorney General of the Republic, Léonard Manirakiza, in person, even though the police are supposed to be under orders from the prosecution.
Standoff between Interior and Justice
The president of the CNIDH did not want to comment, but a senior police officer assured us that they had received “ orders from above » not to follow the orders of the magistrates, “ because the Minister of the Interior accuses the justice system of systematically releasing the criminals entrusted to them “.
“ It will be up to the Head of State to decide this standoff between the Minister of the Interior and Security and the Minister of Justice », Estimated this source.