"We flee when we see them" : abuses with impunity at the National Intelligence Service in Burundi

After more than a decade of civil war in Burundi, the largest rebel group, the CNDD-FDD, won elections in 2005 and took power under the leadership of a new national president, Pierre Nkurunziza. Despite promises that the new government would be committed to human rights, government intelligence agents committed serious human rights violations in 2005-2006. In this report, Human Rights Watch documents cases of killings, torture and arbitrary arrest by agents of the Burundian National Intelligence Service (SNR). In the past year, these agents have apparently extrajudicially executed some 40 Burundian citizens, and have tortured and arbitrarily detained some 200 others. Government authorities have arrested one state agent and other persons on suspicion of having committed abuses in two particularly egregious cases, but no one has been brought to trial. The government should thoroughly investigate these crimes at all levels of the chain of command and should ensure that those implicated be prosecuted. The government must take steps to ensure independent monitoring and oversight of the SNR so that these abuses will stop. Cover title. 33 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm.