ISHR
Following the adoption of resolution 48/16, a mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Burundi was established. During its 49th session, the Human Rights Council appointed Fortuné Gaetan Zongo as the mandate holder. On 29 June 2022, he presented his first oral update during the 50th session of the Council.
Newly appointed Special Rapporteur on Burundi, Fortuné Gaetan Zongo, presented his first oral update to the Human Rights Council.
He noted and congratulated Burundi for its progressive return on regional and international platforms since the election of President Évariste Ndayishimiye. Nevertheless, he stressed that efforts are still needed to better fight impunity and to open civic space by enabling the safe participation of civil society and the media. He notably urged the government of Burundi to engage with his mandate and allow him to visit the country.
“So far I only collected partial information, gathered through secondary sources, which could seriously undermine the credibility and neutrality of this work” shared the Special Rapporteur.
“Therefore, from this tribune, I would like to ask the Burundian authorities for the possibility to engage with them, to visit this brother country in order to better understand the realities, opportunities, challenges as well as their priorities,” the Special Rapporteur added.
ISHR delivered a statement highlighting how defenders continue to be arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned, such as in the case of lawyer Tony Germain Nkina arrested in October 2020 in relation to his human rights work.
“ISHR also urges the Government of Burundi to reconsider its position and to cooperate fully and in good faith with all UN mechanisms, in particular to agree to allow the Special Rapporteur on Burundi to make an official visit to the country,” said Adélaïde Etong Kame, ISHR Africa Programme Manager.
Despite these calls, the government of Burundi reaffirmed that it will never accept non-consensual political, “gendarme-like” (sic) mechanisms that “interfere” (sic) in national affairs. It invites the Council to consider other channels of cooperation and “put an end to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur who has a geopolitical agenda and does not benefit from the support of national authorities” (sic).
A newly-released confidential letter by a UN Special Rapporteur documents the disbarment of human rights lawyers in China and the tightening ideological control over lawyers and law firms. The UN expert denounces disappearances, closed-door trials, harassment of relatives, travel bans, and other abuses targeting human rights lawyers.
On Tuesday 16 April 2024, ISHR delivered to both Geneva’s Administrative Council and its legislative counterpart, the Municipal Council, physical copies of the more than 1000 signatures collected in support of a memorial honouring Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli.
The 79th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will be held in Banjul, The Gambia, from 14 May to 3 June 2024. The session will be preceded by the NGO Forum, which will be held in hybrid format from the 11-13 May 2024.
