A/HRC/39/63 high-ranking officials of the National Intelligence Service, the police, the army, the administration and CNDD-FDD. In this regard, organs of the State are often indistinguishable from organs of the ruling party. 19. The Government has imposed additional taxes and contributions, including for the 2020 elections (see para. 57), and has thereby exacerbated poverty and violated the obligation of the State to take appropriate measures to ensure that all persons have an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families. 5 Discrimination by State agents based on whether or not individuals belong to CNDD-FDD has had an impact on specific rights, such as the right to education, and on employment in the civil service and in public and public-private enterprises. (ii) Responsibility of the State for the conduct of the Imbonerakure 20. The information gathered, in particular from former members of the Imbonerakure and CNDD-FDD, confirms that the role of the Imbonerakure is growing in an overall context of recruitment among the general public and persecution of political opponents and persons perceived as such. The referendum campaign has given rise to numerous violations by Imbonerakure, who, acting either alone or in the presence of law enforcement officers, conduct checks to verify whether persons of voting age have registered and whether they have paid their contributions for the 2020 elections. These checks have often served as a pretext for extortion and theft. Forced recruitment into the Imbonerakure has also reportedly been stepped up. 21. The increase in these activities and the wider latitude being left to the Imbonerakure demonstrate their collusion with formal and informal structures of State repression (see para. 18). The fact that the Imbonerakure are members of the “joint human security committees”, along with representatives of the administration and the police, indicates that they are acknowledged to play a role in the security apparatus. With the consent of local governments, Imbonerakure have been used as auxiliaries or substitutes for law enforcement in the country’s interior, where such forces have a reduced presence. Some testimonies have even indicated that police operations against opponents have been led by Imbonerakure. 22. The Commission is thus in a position to establish the responsibility of the Burundian State for wrongful acts committed by Imbonerakure in four contexts: when their conduct is acknowledged and adopted by agents of the State,6 when they act on the instructions or under the direction of the latter,7 and when they act in “complete dependence” on or under the “effective control” of such agents. 23. Imbonerakure have continued to make arrests on their own initiative, often with violence, and to hand over the persons apprehended to the police or the National Intelligence Service. The detention of such persons by law enforcement shows that the latter have adopted the conduct of such Imbonerakure. This acknowledgement is also demonstrated by the fact that no measures have been taken to put a stop to such conduct. 24. Imbonerakure have continued to act on the orders of officials, including highranking officials, of the National Intelligence Service, the police and the Office of the President. Some have taken part in law enforcement operations or operations against opponents, acting alongside police or intelligence officers and in some cases wearing the same uniforms or carrying the same weapons as the defence and security forces. Such conduct by Imbonerakure has even taken place in prisons, such as the Mpimba prison in Bujumbura, and in police holding cells. 25. The growing role and freedom of action of the Imbonerakure are entirely dependent on the discretion of State power structures and on the impunity accorded by the latter. To demonstrate the “complete dependence” of an organization on the State, international 5 6 7 6 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11. International Law Commission, articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, art. 11. Ibid., art. 8. GE.18-13070