A/HRC/45/32 B. Developments in Burundi 1. Electoral process 14. Presidential, legislative and communal elections were held on 20 May 2020, in accordance with the timetable set by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The official election campaign for the three elections on 20 May opened on 27 April and closed on 17 May. According to the Electoral Code, candidates and political parties were only allowed to campaign during this period, and between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. 15. The campaign and the election took place without international observers. Those who were to be sent by the East African Community declined to come after the Government of Burundi announced that as part of the fight against COVID-19 they would be placed in a two-week quarantine upon arrival, meaning until the day after the election. 16. On 25 May 2020, the chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the provisional results of the elections, whereby Évariste Ndayishimiye won the presidential election with more than 68 per cent of the vote and Agathon Rwasa came in second, with 20 per cent. In a statement issued on 27 May, the Burundian Catholic Bishops’ Conference said that its 2,716 observers deployed to specific polling stations had reported “numerous irregularities” and that the bishops wondered “whether they might undermine the declared result”.8 17. On 4 June 2020, the Constitutional Court dismissed a complaint from the Congrès national pour la liberté (CNL) challenging the provisional results and denouncing massive fraud and irregularities. It announced that Évariste Ndayishimiye had been elected with 68.7 per cent of the vote. Agathon Rwasa, who at the same time had been elected as a member of parliament, said that he took note of this decision. The ruling party, the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD), also won the legislative and communal elections by large margins. 18. On 8 June 2020, the incumbent President, Pierre Nkurunziza, died unexpectedly, according to official reports, from cardiac arrest. On 12 June, the Constitutional Court ruled that the newly elected President, Évariste Ndayishimiye, should be sworn in immediately, and he came into office on 18 June. In his inaugural speech, which had its share of ambiguous and contradictory statements, he promised to reconcile the country through dialogue, to combat impunity, to improve the human rights situation and to protect the population. He also called on refugees to return home. However, he called into question whether there had actually been a political crisis in 2015 and pronounced an unduly limited concept of certain civil liberties, supposedly based on Burundian culture. 19. On 24 June 2020, Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, who had been Minister of Public Security since 2015, was appointed Prime Minister, and Prosper Bazombanza, from the Union pour le progrès national, was named Vice-President. The civilian chef du cabinet under the Nkurunziza presidency was reappointed, as was the spokesperson. On 28 June, a new Government of 15 members was formed, including 5 women, comprising mainly persons from the previous regime, representing the CNDD-FDD hardliners’ wing. Since then, dozens of members of the military have been promoted, including some high-ranking officers regularly cited for involvement in serious human rights violations since 2015. On 10 July, the Senate approved the 18 provincial governors chosen by the President, including 3 women and 6 senior military officers, thereby breaking with the practice of appointing civilians to these key positions. 20. On 20 July 2020, the CNDD-FDD party won 34 of the 36 Senate seats elected by local councillors.9 8 9 GE.20-10689 See www.eglisecatholique.bi/index.php/fr/vie-de-l-eglise1/communiques/communique-de-laconference-des-eveques-catholiques-du-burundi-sur-le-scrutin-du-20-mai-2020. Three Twa senators were co-opted. 5