A/HRC/17/50 I. Introduction 1. This report is submitted in pursuance of Human Rights Council resolution 16/34 of 13 April 2011, in which the Council invited the expert to report to it on his activities at its seventeenth session and to participate in an interactive dialogue. 2. This report follows on from the first visit of the independent expert in Burundi from 8 to 17 November 2010 and covers general developments in the human rights situation in Burundi together with related institutional matters, as at 15 February 2011. 3. During that first visit to Burundi, the independent expert sought information on the matters covered by this report directly from the largest possible number of those involved. At the level of the authorities of the country, he met the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Minister of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender Issues, the Minister of Justice, the Prosecutor-General, the Chief of Staff of the Director of the National Information Service, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Force, the Auditor-General (military prosecutor), the Director-General of Prisons, the Director of Mpimba Prison, the President of the ruling party Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD) and members of the tripartite steering committee (CPT) responsible for the national consultations on the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms in Burundi. The independent expert had also expressed a desire to meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Public Security, the President of the National Assembly and the President of the Republic or, alternatively, the first Vice-President. Those meetings did not take place, however. The independent expert also met representatives of a number of political parties not represented in Parliament, local and international nongovernmental organizations and representatives of the Batwas community, as well as several senior officials of the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi, members of the diplomatic corps (Belgium, France, Netherlands, United States of America), the representative of the British Department for International Development (DFID), the Special Representative of the African Union and the Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. The independent expert wishes to thank again all his interlocutors for their willingness to meet him and for their precious insights. 4. The independent expert also wishes to commend the Government of Burundi, which demonstrated its spirit of cooperation throughout the visit. He thanks the Government for granting most of his requests for meetings and for permitting him to visit all the places necessary for him to discharge his mandate. Lastly, he thanks the United Nations country team, in particular the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Burundi, which contributed to the success of his mission. 5. In this report, the independent expert briefly retraces the political situation, the 2010 elections and the establishment of the new Government. He then goes on to describe the changing human rights situation during the period under consideration and the process of establishing the National Human Rights Commission. He concludes by making several recommendations to improve the situation of human rights in Burundi. 4 GE.11-13751 (EXT)