A/HRC/36/54 35. The Commission noted several cases of targeted assassination and attempted assassination attributed to members of the National Intelligence Service or the police, such as the assassination of Zedi Feruzi, leader of the Union pour la paix et le développementZigamibanga opposition party, on 23 May 2015; the attempted assassination of Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, President of the Association burundaise pour la protection des droits humains et des personnes détenues, on 3 August 2015; and the execution of his son, Welly Nzitonda, on 6 November 2015. 36. The Commission also collected information on assassinations committed by persons whose identity and responsibility it was unable to establish, such as the assassinations of General Adolphe Nshimirimana, the former head of the National Intelligence Service, on 2 August 2015; Colonel Jean Bikomagu, retired, on 15 August 2015; Patrice Gahungu, spokesperson of the Union pour la paix et le développement, on 7 September 2015; Pascal Nshimirimana, son-in-law of Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, on 9 October 2015; Lieutenant Colonel Darius Ikurakure on 22 March 2016; Hafsa Mossi, member of the East African Legislative Assembly, on 13 July 2016; and Emmanuel Niyonkuru, Minister of Water, Environment, Land Management and Urban Planning, on 1 January 2017. Major General Prime Niyongabo, Army Chief of Staff, and Willy Nyamitwe, communications adviser to the President of the Republic, escaped assassination attempts during which other persons were killed on 11 September 2015 and 28 November 2016 respectively. 2. Enforced disappearances 37. Arrest and detention conditions in Burundi are conducive to enforced disappearances. The Commission received several testimonies concerning persons who disappeared after being arrested by members of the National Intelligence Service and/or the police. By way of example, on 9 March 2016, nine policemen, guided by an Imbonerakure travelling in a police vehicle, arrested Hugo Haramategeko, leader of the Nouvelle alliance pour le développement du Burundi party, in Bujumbura. His family has not heard from him since. In some cases, members of the National Intelligence Service or the police have demanded ransoms from the relatives of disappeared persons. Augustin Hatungimana, a member of the Mouvement pour la réhabilitation du citoyen-Rurenzangemero party, who was arrested by the police in Bujumbura on 9 December 2015, is still missing. His family paid 600,000 Burundian francs to persons presenting themselves as intelligence agents and offering to find him. 38. The context, characterized by numerous cases of disappearance and, frequently, the existence of one or more particular elements, such as the profile of the persons targeted — political opponents, members of civil society or “ex-FAB” — and threats made against the victims prior to their disappearance or subsequently received by their relatives in connection with their disappearance, affords reasonable grounds to fear enforced disappearances. In such cases, the authorities have an obligation to open an independent and effective investigation. For example, Savin Nahindavyi, an intelligence officer, disappeared on 1 May 2016; one of his superiors subsequently presented his condolences to the family but his body was never found. Several testimonies also suggest that intelligence agents or members of the police were involved in the disappearances of Marie-Claudette Kwizera, treasurer of the Ligue Iteka human rights organization, on 10 December 2015; Jean Bigirimana, a journalist working for the Iwacu newspaper, on 22 July 2016; and Oscar Ntasano, a former senator and owner of the Nonara Hotel in Bujumbura, on 21 April 2017. 39. Identification of the bodies discovered and exhumation of bodies by the authorities might enable missing persons to be traced. 3. Right to liberty and security of person 40. The Commission found that the most frequently reported human rights violations consisted in arbitrary arrests and detentions, which, in many cases, led to other violations such as extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and sexual violence. 41. The arbitrary nature of the arrests is attributable to the fact that the persons making them, such as Imbonerakure, either were not authorized to do so or failed to respect the GE.17-13865 9