A/HRC/36/54 I. Introduction A. Mandate 1. The Commission of Inquiry on Burundi (hereinafter “the Commission”) was created for a period of one year by Human Rights Council resolution 33/24, adopted on 30 September 2016, to conduct a thorough investigation into human rights violations and abuses committed in Burundi since April 2015 and, in particular, to assess their extent, determine whether they constitute international crimes, identify their alleged perpetrators and formulate recommendations on steps to be taken with a view to guaranteeing that the latter, regardless of their affiliation, are held accountable for their acts. 2. On 22 November 2016, the President of the Human Rights Council appointed Fatsah Ouguergouz (Algeria), Reine Alapini Gansou (Bénin) and Françoise Hampson (United Kingdom) as members of the Commission, which was chaired by Mr. Ouguergouz. The Commission members were assisted by a secretariat established by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 3. The Commission presented two oral briefings during the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth sessions of the Human Rights Council in March and June 2017. The present report summarizes the final conclusions of its investigations, which will be detailed in a separate document.1 B. Cooperation by Burundi with the Commission 4. In its resolution 33/24, the Human Rights Council urged the Government of Burundi to cooperate fully with the Commission of Inquiry, to authorize it to conduct visits to the country and to provide it with all the information necessary to fulfil its mandate. Notwithstanding that request, the Government of Burundi refused any form of dialogue or cooperation with the Commission in spite of several initiatives by the latter. 5. In fact, as of the completion of the present report, the Commission had sent three notes verbales to the Permanent Mission of Burundi in Geneva and two letters to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. 2 It requested the Burundian authorities to grant it access to the country and to inform it of their views on the human rights situation in Burundi, particularly in regard to attacks against agents of the State or members of the ruling party. These requests have gone unanswered. C. Methodology 6. Following the practice of other commissions of inquiry which had been denied access to the territory covered by their mandate, the Commission visited neighbouring countries (Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania) and other countries hosting Burundian refugees. These visits, as well as numerous contacts from a distance, enabled the Commission to conduct more than 500 interviews with victims, witnesses and other sources. 7. The Commission adopted the same standard of proof as most of the commissions of inquiry on human rights, namely “reasonable grounds to believe”. It therefore took care to collect a body of reliable and consistent information on the basis of which a reasonable and ordinarily prudent person would have reason to believe that an incident or pattern of conduct had occurred. 8. In addition to the lack of cooperation on the part of the Government and the latter’s refusal to grant it access to the country, the Commission was faced with the difficulty of 1 2 GE.17-13865 Detailed final report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi. See annex II. 3