A/HRC/33/37 Imbonerakure, against political opponents to carry out some of the gross violations mentioned below and, in general, to clamp down on civil society. 25. The security forces frequently conducted violent cordon-and-search operations in the so-called opposition neighbourhoods of Bujumbura (Musaga, Ngagara, Kanyosha and Nyakabiga) to track down demonstrators. 26. Following an attack on four military bases in and around the capital on 11 December 2015, the security forces used indiscriminate violence. Anyone suspected of opposing the Government was at risk, including State officials, agents of the National Intelligence Service and even senior military officers. Gross human rights violations within the security forces, carried out tit for tat, became a salient feature of the crisis. 27. Non-State actors have engaged in human rights abuses such as assassinations of government officials and throwing grenades into public areas, killing civilians. 28. In December 2014, four months before the current crisis erupted, the Security Council did not renew the mandate of the United Nations Office in Burundi (BNUB), which had been engaged in Burundi for over a decade. Once the crisis started, however, various international initiatives were launched, including a fact-finding mission by a delegation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the adoption of various African Union and European Union resolutions, the launch of a dialogue (now stalled) promoted by the East African Community, visits by various African Heads of State, the European Union decision on the suspension of direct aid, a visit by the Security Council, the review of a special report by the Committee against Torture, an early-warning procedure initiated by the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the deployment of African Union observers. 29. The report of the delegation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights contains the views of the primary human rights monitoring body of the African Union.5 Notably, the delegation describes the violations committed by government security personnel and affiliated groups as “pervasive and systematic” and as “serious and massive”; 6 it calls for the deployment of “an international police mission” 7 and the establishment of an independent, internationally supported special tribunal in Burundi. 8 30. The African Union Peace and Security Council decided in December 2015 to deploy 5,000 peacekeepers to Burundi. The decision was reversed before it was presented to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, following the statement by Burundi that the deployment would be treated as an invasion. In the meantime, following a visit by a highlevel delegation, the African Union decided to deploy 100 human rights observers and 100 military observers. To date, only 45 human rights observers and 24 military observers have been deployed. The Government has not yet signed a memorandum of understanding with the African Union about the observers. In addition, the Government insists on “clearing” the observers’ reports before they are submitted to African Union bodies. 31. On 29 July 2016, the Security Council adopted resolution 2303 (2016), by which it authorized the deployment of a maximum of 228 United Nations police officers. Implementation of the resolution has been categorically rejected by the Government. 32. On 3 June 2016, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the Secretariat announced its decision not to replace the 280 Burundian police officers in the United 5 6 7 8 6 Available from www.achpr.org/files/news/2016/05/d218/achpr_report_fact_finding_eng.pdf. Ibid., para. 110. Ibid., para. 169 (h). Ibid., para. 172 (c).