A/HRC/4/5 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The present report covers the independent expert’s sixth and seventh visits which were undertaken from 7 to 14 October 2006 and 14 to 27 January 2007, respectively. The report will address the general situation in Burundi with a special focus on: • The implementation by the Government of programmes aimed at providing universal free primary education and access to free health care for children under 5 years of age and expectant mothers; • The political situation, including the signature of a comprehensive ceasefire agreement between the Government and the Forces nationales pour la libération (FNL) on 7 September 2006; • The arrest, detention and acquittal of the alleged coup plotters, including the former President and the former Vice-President of the Republic; • The arrests and killings perpetrated in Muyinga between May and August 2006 and the judicial investigation thereon. 2. The independent expert wishes to thank the Government of Burundi for its cooperation during his visits and, in particular, for allowing access to all officials he had expressed the wish to meet and to all institutions and places necessary for the discharge of his mandate. He also wishes to thank all those whom he met for their contribution to the success of his missions. 3. During his sixth and seventh visits, the independent expert met the first and second Vice-Presidents of the Republic, the Minister of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender Issues, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Health, the permanent secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Attorney-General, the President of the Supreme Court, and the chairperson of the Bar Association. He also met representatives of the major political parties, such as the spokesperson of the ruling party, the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD), the secretary-general of the Front pour la démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), the spokesperson of the Mouvement de rassemblement pour la réhabilitation du citoyen (MRC) and the spokesperson of the Conseil national pour la défense et la démocratie (CNDD) whose leader had fled the country for political reasons. The independent expert met the representative of Human Rights Watch and various local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of human rights, including Ligue Iteka, Association for the Protection of the Human Rights of Prisoners and Detainees (APRODH), Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture (ACAT), Organisation de lutte contre les malversations économiques (OLUCOME), the representatives of the journalists’ associations and private radio stations (Radio publique africaine, Bonesha and Isanganiro), and trade unions representatives. Other personalities he met include the Deputy Representative and Executive Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Burundi, the representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the director of the Human Rights Division within the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB), the representative