Amnesty International, the Burundi Human Rights Initiative, and Human Rights Watch have urged to release five human rights defenders arrested on charges of rebellion and undermining state security “immediately” and to stop “intimidating” civil society.

The intelligence services in Burundi arrested four activists on 14 February as they were about to fly to Uganda from the economic capital Bujumbura. The activists were subsequently charged with offences related to their work campaigning for human rights and democracy in Burundi. The four activists are currently detained in a remote location in the country and are at risk of ill-treatment and torture. Amnesty International is calling for their immediate and unconditional release.

The Burundian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the five human rights defenders arbitrarily arrested and drop the baseless charges against them, Amnesty International, the Burundi Human Rights Initiative and Human Rights Watch wrote in a statement.

The Statement denounced these proceedings as “intimidating other activists, including those who have fled abroad.” It called on the government to “cease its harassment of human rights defenders and create an environment in which they can freely and safely continue their crucial work.”

These arrests and charges “testify to a deterioration” of the situation of “independent civil society in Burundi”, said Clementine de Montjoye, researcher in the Africa division of HRW. This is a very serious situation that requires urgent attention. De Montjoye continued, “The Burundian authorities are trampling on the rights of people who are trying to peacefully express their opinions and defend human rights.” This is absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped immediately. The people of Burundi deserve to live in a society where they can freely express themselves without fear of retribution.

Sonia Ndikumasabo is a human rights activist in Burundi. She is the president of the Association of Women Lawyers of Burundi and the former vice-president of the independent National Human Rights Commission. Ndikumasabo was arrested at the airport along with four other activists.

The fifth detainee, Prosper Runyange, a member of the Association for Peace and the Promotion of Human Rights (APDH), was arrested in Ngozi (north).

The accusations “seem to be based solely on their link with a foreign international organisation and the funding they received from it”, the NGOs note, without giving further details.

In February, the minister in charge of security, Martin Niterese, said “there is a high probability that there is a risk of financing terrorism through these funds”.

Since his accession to power in 2020, Burundi’s president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, has oscillated between signs of openness of the regime, which remains under the sway of powerful “generals”, and firm control of power marked by human rights violations denounced by NGOs.

He succeeded Pierre Nkurunziza, who died in 2020, who had ruled the country with an iron fist since 2005.

Burundi, landlocked in the Great Lakes region, is the poorest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita, according to the World Bank, which estimates that 75% of its 12 million inhabitants live below the poverty line.