A/HRC/42/49 I. Introduction A. Mandate 1. The Commission of Inquiry on Burundi was created by Human Rights Council resolution 33/24, adopted on 30 September 2016, to conduct a thorough investigation into human rights violations and abuses committed in Burundi since April 2015, to determine whether any of them may constitute international crimes, to identify their alleged perpetrators and to formulate recommendations for ensuring that such perpetrators are held accountable for their acts. This mandate was extended for two additional one-year periods, by resolution 36/19, adopted on 29 September 2017, and by resolution 39/14, adopted on 28 September 2018. 2. The membership of the Commission remains unchanged: Doudou Diène (Senegal), who has chaired the body since 1 February 2018; Lucy Asuagbor (Cameroon), a member since 5 March 2018; and Françoise Hampson (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), appointed on 22 November 2016. 3. The Commission has looked into violations and abuses committed since May 2018,1 paying special attention to those related to the 2020 electoral process. 2 Using objective indicators defined at the international level,3 it has sought to determine whether there are any risk factors pointing to a possible deterioration in the human rights situation. These efforts are in keeping with the principles of early warning and prevention4 and have provided valuable information on the current situation and potential developments. 4. In 2019, the Commission presented two oral briefings to the Human Rights Council. The present report summarizes the final conclusions of its investigations, which will be detailed in a separate document.5 B. Cooperation by Burundi with the Commission 5. As in the past, when it extended the Commission’s mandate, the Human Rights Council urged the Government of Burundi to cooperate fully with the Commission, to authorize it to conduct visits to the country and to provide it with all the information necessary to fulfil its mandate.6 In that spirit of cooperation, the Commission wrote to the Burundian authorities seeking to arrange a meeting in Geneva, transmitting requests for specific information and providing a non-exhaustive list of human rights indicators to enable the Government to assess, in an objective manner, the impact of its policies and practices to protect and promote human rights. All of these communications have gone unanswered. 6. The Burundian authorities have continued to reject the Commission’s work wholly and systematically, deeming it politically biased, but have offered no evidence to substantiate their accusations. They also tried, without success, to prevent the Commission’s report from being presented to the General Assembly in October 2018, despite an explicit request to that effect by the Human Rights Council.7 The hostility of the Burundian authorities continued, with the Commission’s members being declared personae 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 GE.19-13419 In order to highlight developments since the previous report (A/HRC/39/63), which covered the period 2017–2018. Presidential and legislative elections are scheduled for 20 May 2020, and elections to the Senate for 20 July 2020. Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes (A/70/741-S/2016/71). See, for example, A/HRC/30/20. Document A/HRC/42/CRP.2, available on the Commission’s website. Human Rights Council resolution 33/24 of 30 September 2016, para. 24; and Human Rights Council resolution 36/19 of 29 September 2017, para. 5. Human Rights Council resolution 36/19 of 29 September 2017, para. 4. 3