A/HRC/33/37
3.
Targeted assassinations
46.
A former senior officer of the National Defence Force confirmed to the independent
experts the existence of several lists of people, including civilians and military personnel, to
be eliminated by the security forces.
47.
Armed elements in opposition to the Government have also been involved in several
murders, notably targeted assassinations. The independent experts documented a case of a
member of the Imbonerakure being burned alive. Grenade attacks have also allegedly been
carried out by the armed elements, causing casualties among the population. From May
2015 to February 2016, the OHCHR office in Burundi documented several cases of
grenades thrown by unknown individuals in public places, mainly in Bujumbura.
48.
Apparent examples of tit-for-tat targeted assassinations within the army —
particularly threatening to the integration of the armed forces — include the killings of
several senior army officers belonging either to the pre-Arusha Agreement Burundian
armed forces or to the Armed Political Parties and Movements (a former rebel group), and
the apparent retaliatory killings of alleged supporters of the regime within the forces.
Among the most emblematic examples are the killings of General Adolphe Nshimirimana
on 2 August 2015, of General Athanase Karakuza on 25 April 2016 and of Colonel Darius
Ikurakure on 22 March 2016. The latter was shot dead in the compound of the headquarters
of the army’s joint staff.
49.
Human rights activists and their relatives have been primary targets. For instance, on
3 August 2015 Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a leading human rights activist and representative
of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and of Detainees, was shot in the
cheek and arm during an apparent assassination attempt. On 6 August 2015, his son, Welly
Fleury Nzitonda, was arrested; he was later killed in the Mutakura neighbourhood of
Bujumbura. On 9 October 2015, Mr. Mbonimpa’s son-in-law, Pascal Nshimirimana, was
killed by firearm and grenades as he was returning home in Ngangara.
B.
Enforced disappearances
50.
Many persons have disappeared since the beginning of the crisis, often following
their arbitrary arrest by the security forces, notably the National Police and the National
Intelligence Service. The victims include members of the opposition members and civil
society and demonstrators. The independent experts met relatives of people arrested by
elements of the security forces who were never seen again. They were unable to obtain any
information from the authorities regarding the fate or whereabouts of the persons
concerned.
51.
Marie-Claudette Kwizera, Treasurer of the civil society organization Ligue Iteka
was allegedly arrested on 10 December 2015 by the National Intelligence Service and has
not been seen since. On 22 July 2016, Jean Birgimana, a journalist for the Iwaku
newspaper, was also allegedly arrested by the National Intelligence Service and has been
missing since then.
52.
The independent experts have also received information and names from witnesses
concerning the existence of a group of 12 well-known intelligence, police and military
agents who have allegedly been responsible for many cases of enforced disappearances and
who report directly to the inner circle of the executive branch.
9
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