A/HRC/42/49 non gratae in the territory of Burundi,8 subjected to threats and personal abuse, and threatened with prosecution for “defamation” and “attempted destabilization” of the country. C. Methodology 7. The Commission undertook visits to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and Ethiopia. It met with representatives of the African Union, the European Union and various States, and conducted over 300 interviews with victims, witnesses and other sources living in Burundi or in third countries, in person or remotely, to add to the more than 1,000 testimonies already collected. If the Commission’s mandate is renewed, it hopes to visit all affected States in the region. 8. The Commission continued to apply the same methodology and the same standard of evidence, “reasonable grounds to believe”, which are fully consistent with internationally accepted guidance and practice for this type of inquiry. 9 D. Applicable law 9. The applicable law is international human rights law and international criminal law.10 Burundi remains a party to the same conventions as before, having not yet ratified the treaties to which it indicated its readiness to become a party during the third universal periodic review of the country, in January 2018. 10. The withdrawal of Burundi from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which took effect on 27 October 2017, does not discharge the country from the obligations arising therefrom while it was a party to the treaty11 or from its obligations under customary international law concerning international crimes. The Commission has referred to the definitions of crimes set forth in the Rome Statute, which are reflected in the Criminal Code of Burundi. E. Developments within international and regional bodies 11. Burundi has stressed many times its willingness to cooperate with international human rights mechanisms, other than the Commission. However, the Government demanded the closure of the Burundi office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which took effect on 28 February 2019. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was unable to visit Burundi in 2018, as it had announced, even though States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment have a legal obligation to receive delegations from the Subcommittee and grant them access to places of detention. Moreover, Burundi has not submitted to the treaty bodies some of its periodic reports on the implementation of human rights instruments, notably the report in relation to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which has been due since November 1998. 8 9 10 11 4 Letter dated 12 September 2018 from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burundi, made public but not received by the Commission. See Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-finding Missions on International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: Guidance and Practice, document HR/PUB/14/7. A/HRC/36/54 and Corr.1, paras. 9–11. See also A/HRC/36/CRP.1, paras. 37–50 (document available on the Commission’s website). International Criminal Court, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (17 July 1998), art. 127. GE.19-13419