A/HRC/4/5 page 5 of UNICEF, the diplomatic corps, namely the Ambassador of Belgium, the Ambassador of France, the Ambassador of the African Union, the Head of delegation of the European Union, the Chargé d’affaires of the United States Embassy, the Chargé d’affaires of the European Union delegation and the Chargé d’affaires of the African Union delegation. 4. The independent expert undertook visits to Mpimba prison and field visits to the provinces of Muyinga, Ngozi and Ruyigi. He met the Governor and the prosecutor of Muyinga, the Attorney-General and the special adviser to the Governor of Ngozi. He also met the administrator of the commune of Mwumba and the representative of Action Against Hunger in Ngozi province. The independent expert also met one survivor of the Muyinga massacre. At the end of both visits, he held a press conference on his findings. 5. In the present report, the independent expert briefly highlights the most significant events, which occurred during the period under review, from July 2006 to January 2007. He also sets out the human rights trends and violations, and presents to the Human Rights Council his recommendations for improving the human rights situation in Burundi. II. GENERAL SITUATION 6. The visits of the independent expert were undertaken against a backdrop of tension caused by new developments on the political and human rights landscape. On the political front, a ceasefire agreement had been signed between the Government and the Forces nationales pour la libération and its armed wing, the Parti national pour la libération du peuple hutu (FNL-Palipehutu) on 7 September 2006 and its implementation had not yet been completed. Tensions between Government and the ruling party, on the one hand, and the opposition parties, the civil society and the media, on the other, had escalated in the first half of 2006 and culminated in July and August 2006 with the arrest and detention of the former President, Domitien Ndayizeye, and the former Vice-President, Alphonse-Marie Kadege, and other prominent members of Burundian society accused of plotting a coup to overthrow the Government of Burundi. Some of them were tortured by security forces. However, when the independent expert visited Burundi in January 2007, this tension had eased considerably after the acquittal of five of the seven persons accused of plotting a coup and the release of journalists who had also been detained. 7. Serious misunderstandings among senior members of the ruling party, which resulted in the resignation of the second Vice-President of Burundi, on 5 September 2006, had seriously intensified by January 2007 and the party had become polarized into two groups. These divisions threaten to destabilize the country in the near future and, if they persist, the Government’s attention might be diverted from implementing its reform programme. 8. The procedure of indictment and the rights of the seven persons accused of plotting a coup against the Government were not respected during the pretrial detention. As a result of mounting internal and international pressure for the speedy trial of the detainees, the latter were tried in December 2006 and five of them, including the former President and the former Vice-President, were acquitted in January 2007.