A/HRC/33/37 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution S-24/1 of 17 December 2015, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to urgently organize and dispatch on the most expeditious basis possible a mission by independent existing experts to Burundi, to undertake swiftly an investigation into violations and abuses of human rights with a view to preventing further deterioration of the human rights situation and to make recommendations on the improvement of the human rights situation and on technical assistance to support reconciliation and the implementation of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi. 2. The focus of the Human Rights Council was on the current and ongoing crisis, which started in April 2015. In its resolution S-24/1, the Council requested the independent experts to issue a final report and participate in an enhanced interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in Burundi at its thirty-third session. 3. In January 2016, the High Commissioner appointed three independent experts to carry out the independent investigation on Burundi: the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns (elected as Chair); the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff; and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, Maya Sahli-Fadel. Since two of the experts were from the United Nations and one was from the African Union system, the investigation was a joint United Nations-African Union undertaking. Active investigations ceased at the end of June 2016. 4. By a letter dated 11 January 2016, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) informed the Government of Burundi of the appointment of the experts and proposed a framework of four country visits by the experts and the deployment of observers on the ground. 5. The Government did not respond to the request for the first visit, which consequently did not take place. Visits took place from 1 to 8 March and from 13 to 17 June 2016. The last visit (scheduled for September 2016), could not take place because of security considerations. 6. OHCHR established a secretariat to support the independent experts: five Human Rights Officers were based in Bujumbura from April to September 2016. 7. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions presented an oral update on the investigation to the Human Rights Council on 22 April 2016. Moreover, the independent experts have requested the High Commissioner, whose Office functions as a repository for the archives related to the investigation, to grant access to information for the purposes of accountability. In parallel, confidentiality and protection concerns have been addressed to the relevant accountability mechanisms. In addition, the independent experts have compiled a list of alleged perpetrators who were repeatedly named by victims and witnesses as responsible for gross human rights violations, to be shared with such mechanisms. 8. The independent experts thank the Government for its cooperation in relation to the country visits and the deployment of Secretariat staff. They note, however, that they also faced several challenges, including in respect of the fact that two of their four planned visits could not be carried out. Some victims and witnesses feared reprisals. Moreover, because of the reported presence of, and surveillance by, agents of the intelligence service and 3