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Summary: The violations highlighted are those issues raised with the State by more than one international mechanism. This is done with the intention of identifying children's rights which have been repeatedly violated, as well as gaps in the issues covered by NGOs in their alternative reports to the various human rights monitoring bodies. These violations are listed in no particular order.
- High levels of sexual violence
- The failure to separate minors from adults in detention centres
- Low enrolment rate of girls in education
High levels of sexual violence
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, October 2010)
The Committee welcomes the fact that the State party has become a member of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and has thus adopted the Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children. However, the Committee is gravely concerned that the incidence of rape and other sexual violence against women and girls remains high, including domestic violence despite express prohibition in the penal code and the definition of rape as a crime. The Committee is further concerned that enforcement is poor, victims are discouraged or afraid of reporting rape, many are ostracised and stigmatized, judges fail to take accusations seriously and few cases are successfully investigated and prosecuted.
The Committee urges the State party to pass legislation on sexual and gender based violence, thus domesticating the ICGRL Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children, and to ensure that legislation as well as the revised penal code are disseminated and applied. (paragraphs 41 and 42)
UN Committee against Torture
Last reported: 9 and 10 November 2006
Concluding Observations adopted: 20 November 2006
The Committee is alarmed at reports of large-scale sexual violence against children by State officials and armed groups, the use of rape as a weapon of war, the apparent impunity of perpetrators and the extra-judicial and amicable settlement of cases, including marriage between the rapist and the victim as a solution.
The Committee recommends measures to eliminate the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators, whether State officials or non-State actors, to improve the conduct of inquiries, the judicial prosecution of perpetrators and to carry out appropriate punishments. It urges Burundi to take measures to help rehabilitate victims and reform the Criminal Code to criminalise acts of violence appropriately. (paragraph 11)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Last reported: 16 January 2008
Concluding Observations published: 8 April 2008
While noting the State party's efforts to combat violence against women, the Committee is deeply concerned about the high number of women and girls who are victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence, including incest. It is also concerned about the impunity which is too often enjoyed by the perpetrators of these acts and the extrajudicial or amicable settlement of cases, including by the administrative authorities, which favour practices such as marriage between the rapist and the victim. The Committee is concerned that women victims of violence, including those who were victims of the armed conflict, do not have sufficient support. The Committee is also alarmed at the persistence of negative traditional practices with regard to widows. Further, it is seriously concerned about the scale of the phenomenon of domestic violence and the fact that it is not prohibited in the Penal Code or in a separate legislation.
The Committee urges the State party to adopt a comprehensive strategy to combat all forms of violence against women. It encourages the State party to make use of the Committee's general recommendation 19 in its efforts to combat violence against women and also of the Secretary-General's in-depth study on all forms of violence against women (A/61/122/Add.1 and Corr.1), in particular the good practices identified in the study. It also encourages the State party to consider the campaign for the elimination of violence against women launched by the Secretary-General. The Committee invites the State party to raise public awareness, through the media and education programmes, that all forms of violence against women are unacceptable. It calls on the State party to train the judiciary, law enforcement officials, legal professionals, social workers and health providers so as to ensure that the perpetrators of violence against women are prosecuted and punished, and to provide victims with gender-sensitive support. It calls on the State party to enhance access to justice for victims, including victims of armed conflict, and to take steps to provide them with legal, medical and psychological support. It urges the State party to enact legislation on domestic violence and all forms of gender-based violence. The Committee calls on the State party to ensure the protection of widows from negative traditional practices. It requests the State party to provide information in its next report on the laws, policies and programmes in place to eradicate all forms of violence against women, as well as statistical data and trends concerning the prevalence of such violence. (paragraphs 23 and 24)
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi
Mr Akich Okola
Country visits: 2-8 December 2007 and 29 June- 12 July 2008
Report published: 15 August 2008
There has been an increase in cases of sexual violence in Burundi since the last trimester of 2007. From January to September 2007, the Human Rights and Justice Section of BINUB registered 609 cases of sexual violence, including rapes. Sexual violence against women and children remains widespread. A significant increase in the incidence of gang rape has been recorded since the beginning of 2008. The majority of cases are committed by civilians, including minors. Most cases do not reach court because the perpetrators are released during the pre-jurisdictional investigations, or escape from police cells. Cases that reach court reportedly rarely reach a judgement because procedures are too lengthy and cumbersome for both the victims and witnesses. It is reported that some of the cases are committed within police premises; for example, on 17 January 2008, at about 10 p.m., in the holding cell of Musaga commune, Bujumbura Mairie province, a police officer raped a 16-year-old girl. A second officer also attempted to rape her, but was stopped from doing so by another police officer, who was alerted by the screaming of the victim. The police officers were arrested on 19 and 20 January, respectively. However, on the night of 20 to 21 January, the perpetrators escaped from the police station, though one was later arrested the same night.
Many cases of sexual violence continue to be settled amicably outside the court. Families of the offenders continue to offer compensation to the families of the victims or propose that the offenders marry the victims. This practice is allegedly conducted with the support of some administrative and police officials. Consequently, the phenomenon of sexual violence remains high and there is little hope that it will decline in the foreseeable future.
This phenomenon will not be ended until the criminal justice system is reformed and laws are in line with international human rights standards. The current laws have contributed to the impunity for rape. Non-governmental organizations believe that all levels of authority, from the relevant ministries to the commune, should be more involved in the fight against sexual violence. They need to make a public commitment to tackle this issue and order the relevant law enforcement agencies to punish the perpetrators of sexual violence with extreme severity, according to the provision of the law. The Ministry of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender Issues explained that the increase in the incidents might be related to more reporting to the police because of the sensitization which the Government, the United Nations and civil society have been carrying out since the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (paragraphs 54-57)
Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Burundi.
10 September 2009.
According to the statistics reported by the Seruka Centre, which assists survivors of sexual violence, the number of such cases perpetrated by uniformed personnel has decreased. However, reports of human rights observers in the field indicate that seven cases were attributable to FDN. FNL was cited for 12 cases, and 4 cases were attributed to the alleged FNL dissidents’ group.
For example, on 15 December 2007, a soldier was accused of raping a girl in the commune of Nyanza-Lac, Makamba province. The presumed perpetrator was arrested. In a separate incident on 17 January 2009, in Mabayi commune, Cibitoke province, a 16-year-old girl was reportedly raped by an FNL element. The presumed perpetrator fled the area, and the police are still ascertaining his whereabouts.
On a positive note, the recent adoption of the revised Penal Code by the National Assembly and the Senate with amendments that strengthen sentencing of perpetrators of sexual violence against children is welcomed. (paragraphs 23, 24, 25)
Cases of grave child rights violations, mainly sexual violence, are often reported. The provision of briefings and training sessions on child rights to security and defence forces and the judiciary is resulting in the arrest and prosecution of a number of perpetrators. Of a total of 43 cases that monitors followed closely, 23 were brought to justice. The remaining cases are still being investigated by the police because the alleged perpetrators either disappeared before arrest or escaped from detention cells, and some cases were settled amicably between the families and the local authorities. Some examples are given in the following paragraphs:
A soldier accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in Nyanza-Lac was sentenced on 15 February 2009 to 10 years imprisonment and fined 500,000 Burundian francs for damages.
The file of a police agent accused of the rape of 18 children in Musongati commune, Rutana Province, was transmitted to the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Rutana in June 2008. A second hearing was held on 31 March 2009. The trial was ongoing at the end of the reporting period. (paragraphs 28, 29 and 31)
The failure to separate minors from adults in detention centres
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, October 2010)
The Committee notes with interest the establishment of a National Plan of Action on Juvenile Justice for the period 2009-2010 and the recent establishment of a national unit for the judicial protection of children (cellule nationale de la protection judiciare de l'enfant) within the Ministry of Justice. However, the Committee is concerned that the criminal juvenile justice system is not in place in the whole country, since juvenile courts has not yet been established in all provinces, and faces serious problems of corruption and lack of capacity to effectively prosecute cases. In particular, the Committee is concerned at:
- The failure to separate minors from adults in detention centres due to the lack of a specific juvenile detention centre
In particular the Committee recommends that the State party:
- Ensure that incarceration of children is used as a last resort and imposed for the minimum time possible and that children are always detained separately from adults, whether in police detention or in prisons (paragraphs 76 and 77)
UN Committee against Torture
Last reported: 9 and 10 November 2006
Concluding Observations adopted: 20 November 2006
Committee remains deeply concerned at the appalling detention conditions prevailing in Burundi, which amount to inhuman and degrading treatment., despite some improvements obtained through assistance provided by the European Union. Problems include overcrowding, lack of food and medical care, poor hygiene and a shortage of resources. The segregation of men, women and children, as well as of convicted persons and persons awaiting trial is not guaranteed. Such conditions include overcrowding, lack of food and medical care that puts lives at risk, poor hygiene and a shortage of material, human and financial resources. The treatment of prisoners remains a matter of concern for the Committee, in particular the fact that minors and women are not segregated from adults and men respectively, and that those awaiting trial are not segregated from convicted prisoners, except in Ngozi prison, where the men's quarters are separate from the women's and children's quarters (arts. 11 and 16). (paragraph 17)
Low enrolment rate of girls in education
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, October 2010)
The Committee appreciates the Government's decision on free primary education for all children in 2005 which has increased considerably the enrolment rates. However, the Committee remains seriously concerned about:
- The fact that the enrolment in early childhood education and pre-school remains low;
- The limitation of compulsory school education to six years, the poor primary school attendance and completion rate and the low secondary school enrolment rate;
- The large number of school dropouts, especially of girls;
- The lack of vocational education and training, including for dropout children;
- The overcrowded schools and shortage of classroom materials; and
- The insufficient number of trained teachers and available school facilities. (paragraph 64)
The Committee recommends that the State party:
- Ensure access to and completion of at least primary school and progressively expand compulsory education to secondary school up to grade 10 (16 years), in all regions of the State party and pay particular attention to girls;
- Make quality early childhood education and pre-school accessible to all children, including children growing up under poor and disadvantaged living conditions;
- Create and strengthen promotion of vocational education and training, including for children who have dropped out of primary or secondary schools, especially for girls;
- Improve the quality of education through, inter alia, revising outdated curricula and decreasing the student-teacher ratio, ensuring at the same time that teachers are well-trained and fully qualified and that they receive adequate salaries;
- Include human rights and child rights in the curricula of schools; and
- Take into account the Committee's general comment No. 1 (2001) on the aims of education. (paragraphs 64 and 65)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Last reported: 16 January 2008
Concluding Observations published: 8 April 2008
The Committee welcomes the introduction of free primary education in 2005 but remained concerned about the disparity between boys and girls in education. Low rates of enrolment of girls may be due to stereotypes.
The Committee recommends that Burundi take measures to eliminate traditional attitudes that foster the problem, to ensure equal access for girls to all levels of education and to take measures to prevent girls from dropping out of school. It also called on the State party to improve the literacy level of girls through formal and non-formal education. It encouraged cooperation with civil society and the international community on this issue. (paragraphs 31 and 32)
Universal Periodic Review (December 2008)
35. Continue the national policy for greater access to education for all children and to include in the school system, at all levels, appropriate measures in the field of human rights education, in accordance with the Plan of Action 2005-2009 of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (Italy); (accepted)