Global Coalition EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2020 GCPEA to Protect Education from Attack COUNTRY PROFILES

BURUNDI

Both state forces and the Imbonerakure, the ruling party’s youth league, threatened, beat, and arrested students in an enduring climate of political violence and intimidation. Attacks on students and teachers peaked in 2018 in the months leading up to a constitutional referendum.

Context The Burundian government, dominated by the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party, and led by President Pierre Nkurunziza, continued to limit civil and political freedoms in during the 2017-2019 reporting period.387 Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term in 2015 spun the country into a po- litical crisis.388 Violence increased in the months leading up to the May 2018 constitutional referendum, which resulted in 80 percent of voters approving a two-term extension of presidential power.389 Human Rights Watch reported that both state security forces and the Imbonerakure, the youth branch of the CNDD-FDD, carried out targeted attacks on members of opposition parties, such as the National Congress for Freedom (CNL, formerly the National Liberation Forces – FNL), as well as jour- nalists and activists, in the lead-up to both the 2018 referendum390 and the 2020 general elections.391 The UN Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry on Burundi reported that state entities, including the Imbonerakure, which the Commission determined to operate under state control in specific circumstances, systemically attacked the civilian population, for reasons of real or perceived opposition to the government and the ruling party, throughout the reporting period.392 According to the Commission, the Burundian state committed serious human rights violations with complete impunity, including executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest, sexual violence, and violations of civil liberties.393 The political crisis in Burundi impacted education during the reporting period. In September 2018, the UN Human Rights Council reported that the CNDD-FDD pressured teachers and students, or removed them from their schools for refusing to join the party, pay mandatory contributions for elections, or attend political meetings.394 In August 2019, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi also reported that student and teacher members of the CNDD-FDD prevented some students from attending school, sometimes with threats.395 Although the Ministry of Education banned the barring of students from schools for reasons related to elections contributions in February 2019,396 Human Rights Watch doc- umented the continuation of this practice throughout 2019.397 Since 2017, the Burundian government’s restrictions on international organizations have led to the departure or reduced aid of international NGOs, UN agencies, and bilateral partners.398 The UN Office of the HighCommiss ioner for Human Rights closed at the government’s request in February 2019.399 The crisis has impacted funding for education. For ex- ample, in 2018, ICG reported that following Nkurunziza’s re-election, the government’s education budget decreased 30 percent, leading to more crowded classrooms, higher fees, and the suspension of many school feeding programs at all levels of education.400 During this reporting period, freedom of the press became increasingly constrained,401 which may have affected the availability of media reports on attacks on education during this period.

Attacks on school students, teachers, or other personnel During the 2017-2019 reporting period, GCPEA collected reports of at least 42 incidents of attacks on students, teachers, or other personnel, which harmed over 65 people. By comparison, in the 2013-2017 period covered in Education under Attack 2018, at least 70 students were detained, arrested, and imprisoned, and many others intimidated or threat- ened.402 Both teachers and students were targeted by state security forces and the Imbonerakure during this reporting period. Attacks were reported at a similar rate as in the Education under Attack 2018 reporting period, 2013-2017, when at least 70 students were detained, arrested, and imprisoned, and many others were intimidated or threatened.403 As in the previous reporting period, beatings and detention prior to voting occurred, as well as the detention of children who de- Global Coalition EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2020 GCPEA to Protect Education from Attack COUNTRY PROFILES

faced images of the president in textbooks. In 2017, GCPEA compiled 11 incidents of attacks on school students and personnel, which harmed around 15 people.404 All of these 2017 attacks were identified after the publication ofEducation under Attack 2018. In 2018, GCPEA compiled at least 15 reports of attacks on school students and staff that led to the injury or death of at least 18, and the arrest or detention of at least ten.405 Many attacks occurred in the months preceding the May 2018 constitutional referendum, when teachers who supported, or were suspected of supporting, opposition parties, were frequently beaten and detained by Imbonerakure members. Examples of reports included: - SOS-Torture/Burundi reported that on January 10, 2018, Imbonerakure members allegedly arrested a teacher and supporter of the opposition FNL party, while at work in Busoni, .406 The teacher was de- tained and beaten, according to local media, for advising people to vote against the constitutional referen- dum.407 - On April 2, 2018, local police reportedly assaulted the dean of Bweru Communal High School in a pub in Bweru town, , for not mobilizing the local population for the CNDD-FDD.408 - Between April 22 and April 28, 2018, Imbonerakure students at Musema High School in re- portedly beat their classmates while forcibly collecting money for election contributions.409 - On the evening of May 5, 2018, the Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH) reported that a local Imbonerakure representative arrested a teacher at Lycée Musemam in Buta- ganzwa, Kayanza province. The teacher, a member of the then-FNL opposition party, was reportedly arrested at school and secretly kept in detention for at least one week, allegedly for campaigning against the referen- dum.410 - On December 28, 2018, the exiled civil society organization Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT Burundi) reported that a secondary school teacher and member of an opposition group was reportedly detained or forcibly disappeared by state intelligence agents, in Mabayi, , allegedly for his association with an opposition party. At the time of the incident report, the teacher’s location remained un- known.411 In addition, GCPEA identified one incident of police and members of the Imbonerakure repressing a student protest. On November 26, 2018, students of the Fundamental School in Mpanda Commune, , reportedly pro- tested against the arrest of a teacher by police and the Imbonerakure, resulting in a clash between the two groups, ac- cording to a local source.412 In 2019, reporting suggested that state security forces and Imbonerakure members arrested, threatened, or physically harmed students and teachers at a similar rate to previous years. GCPEA collected 15 reports of such incidents from local and international media, and local human rights observatories.413 The most publicized case occurred in early March 2019, when state security forces arrested seven school students be- tween the ages of 13 and 17, including one boy, in Kirundo province, for insulting the president by allegedly defacing his image in school textbooks. While one thirteen-year-old boy who was below the age of criminal responsibility was immediately released, the six girls were held at the police station in Kirundo. Three of the girls were released after two days, while three others were transferred to the female prison in Ngozi for prosecution. The children were eventually released after advocacy on the ground and mounting pressure, including an online social media campaign entitled #freeourgirls, though the charges were not dropped.414 GCPEA reported that at least 70 students were detained and 11 arrested in 2016 for defacing pictures of the president in textbooks.415 In addition, GCPEA collected reports of attacks by the Imbonerakure or unidentified armed groups against students, teachers and staff in 2019, examples of which included: - Human rights organization League Iteka reported that, on January 12, 2019, in Kavumu hill, Kayanza province, a student in year nine at Ruganza School was beaten by two Imbonerakure members while on the way to school. The student was allegedly in a coma for days and had broken ribs following the attack. The attackers were re- portedly arrested and detained at the police commissariat in Kayanza.416 Global Coalition EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2020 GCPEA to Protect Education from Attack COUNTRY PROFILES

- Local media reported that, on the night of August 18, 2019 in Rushubije, Ntenga commune, Kirundo province, six alleged Imbonerakure members killed a teacher who was affiliated with an opposition party.417 - League Iteka reported that, on September 30, 2019, at Kinvyovu School in Nyamurenza commune, Ngozi prov- ince, a member of the Imbonerakure removed three male students from their school in front of school admin- istrators and held them at the district’s administration building. The Imbonerakure member allegedly accused the three students of disrupting the paramilitary group’s activities in the area. The students were released the same day.418 - On October 3, 2019, Imbonerakure reportedly assaulted a secondary school student on his way home from class in Nyamurenza commune, , according to local media sources.419

Military use of schools and universities Between 2017 and 2019, GCPEA identified two reported incidentsof military use of school. In the period covered in Education under Attack 2018, at least 21 schools were reportedly used as police or military posts in 2015 and 2016.420 In 2018, APRODH reported two cases of the Imbonerakure using primary schools. On June 23, 2018, the Imbonerakure reportedly used the playground of Kiranda Primary school, in Bugenyuzi commune, , to conduct trainings.421 On September 25, 82018, 12 Imbonerakure members reportedly stopped two male members of the FNL party and brought them to Buhoro II Primary school where they were detained overnight, after which they were allegedly taken to a police station in Gashikanwa district.422

Child recruitment at, or on the way to or from, school or university GCPEA received one report of a case of children being forcibly associated with the Imbonerakure at a school between 2017 and 2019; no incidents were reported in the 2013-2017 period covered in Education under Attack 2018.. APRODH reported that, in January 2018, the Imbonerakure forcibly engaged students in grade six from a primary school in Buga- bira district, Kirundo province. The Imbonerakure forced these students to participate in paramilitary training at school and in the surrounding community, particularly on Friday and Saturday night, and allegedly severely punished students who did not participate.423

Sexual violence at, or on the way to or from, school or university During the 2017-2019 reporting period, GCPEA received two reports of sexual violence by armed parties targeting stu- dents at, or on the way to or from, school. The first case occurred in 2017 but was collected by GCPEA in 2018. On January 24, 2017, in Cibitoke province, a member of the Imbonerakure allegedly raped a 14 year-old schoolgirl as she returned home from school.424 The second case occurred on January 15, 2019, in when League Iteka reported that a police officeraped r a 16-year-old girl on the grounds of a secondary school. The perpetrator was apprehended and arrested.425 Rape and sexual violence committed by the Imbonerakure and state security forces have been documented by the Bu- rundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained People (APRODH), as well as the UN Commission of Inquiry.426

Attacks on higher education Attacks on higher education occurred sporadically between 2017 and 2019, similar to the rate reported in Education under Attack 2018. Between 2013-2017, GCPEA documented three incidents of attacks on higher education, two of which occurred in 2017.427 One incident from 2017 was not reported in Education under Attack 2018. On or around August 18, 2017, Imbonerakure members reportedly beat a Tutsi student with clubs and forced him to walk on his knees across the Mutanga campus of the University of Burundi in .428 Two incidents of attacks on university students were reported in 2018. On July 9, 2018, opposition students at the Mu- tanga campus of the University of Burundi, Bujumbura were threatened when flyers appeared which threatened students who did not adhere to the government ideology, saying that the government would authorize violence against such stu- dents. Iwacu and APRODH reported that the flyers likely came after protests following the arrests of three students Global Coalition EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2020 GCPEA to Protect Education from Attack COUNTRY PROFILES

earlier in the week.429 Separate reports from local NGOs APRODH and SOS Médias Burundi confirmed that on the night of July 2, 2018, Imbonerakure members and police arrested three students from their rooms on the same campus after arbitrarily searching their rooms. Two students were reportedly released from jail on July 12, 2018.430

387 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2019, (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2019), Burundi chapter. 388 Jina Moore, “Burundi Voters Back Constitution Extending Presidential Term,” The New York Times, May 18, 2018; Rachel Nicholson, “Burundi crisis: The legacy of 2015 brings fear for 2020,” Amnesty International, May 2, 2019. 389 Maggie Flick, Alison Williams and David Stamp, “Burundi approves new constitution extending presidential term limit,” Reuters, May 21, 2018; Jina Moore, “Burundi Voters Back Constitution Extending Presidential Term,” The New York Times, May 18, 2018; Human Rights Watch, World Report 2019, (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2019), Burundi chapter. 390 Human Rights Watch, “‘We Will Beat You to Correct You’: Abuses Ahead of Burundi’s Constitutional Referendum,” (New York: Human Rights Watch, May 2018). 391 Human Rights Watch, “We Let Our Children Go Hungry to Pay”: Abuses Related to the 2020 Election Levy in Burundi, (New York: Human Rights Watch, December 6, 2019). 392 UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/39/63, August 8, 2018, para. 67; UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Com- mission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/42/49, August 6, 2019, paras. 20-22. 393 UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/39/63, August 8, 2018, paras. 26, 70; UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/42/49, August 6, 2019, paras. 32, 34, 38, 37. 394 UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/39/63, August 8, 2018, para. 61. 395 UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/42/49, August 6, 2019, para. 59. 396 UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/42/49, para. 59. 397 Human Rights Watch, “We Let Our Children Go Hungry to Pay”: Abuses Related to the 2020 Election Levy in Burundi, (New York: Human Rights Watch, December 6, 2019). 398 Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2017/18, (London: Amnesty International, 2018), Burundi chapter, pp. 107-110; Salem Solomon and Patrick Ndu- wimana, “Aid Groups Denounce Burundi’s 3-Month Ban on NGOs,” VOA, October 3, 2018. 399 “UN Human Rights Officein Burundi closes,” UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights news release, March 5, 2019. 400 International Crisis Group (ICG), Helping the Burundian People Cope with the Economic Crisis, (Brussels: IGC), Report No. 264, August 31, 2018. 401 Kiplagat Edwin, “BBC shuts Burundi Bureau,” The East African, July 16, 2019. 402 GCPEA, Education under Attack 2018, (New York: GCPEA, 2018), p. 91. 403 GCPEA, Education under Attack 2018, (New York: GCPEA, 2018), p. 91. 404 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA’s website, https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/eua_2020_references.pdf 405 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA’s website, https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/eua_2020_references.pdf 406 “REPORT No. 109 OF SOS-TORTURE / BURUNDI,” SOS Torture/ Burundi, January 13, 2018, p. 3. 407 RPA, as cited in ACLED, Event ID BUR7583. 408 Local source, as cited in ACLED, Event ID BUR7773. 409 Frontier Star, as cited in ACLED, Event ID BUR7856. 410 Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH), Annual Report 2018 (Rapport Annuel de 2018), (Bujumbura: APRODH, January 2019), para. 16. 411 “Report on Monitoring of Violations and Threats to Human Rights in Burundi (Rapport sur le Monitoring des Violations et atteintes aux Droits de l’Homme au Burundi, Période du mois de décembre 2018),” ACAT-Burundi, p. 9. 412 Local source, as cited in ACLED, Event ID BUR8296. 413 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA’s website, https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/eua_2020_references.pdf 414 George Obulutsa, Peter Graff, “Burundi releasesschoolgirls held for scribbling on president’s portrait,” Reuters, March 26, 2019; Lewis Mudge, “Jailed in Burundi for Scribbles on President’s Photo,” Human Rights Watch dispatch, March 19, 2019; “Scribbled photos of the president in Burundi: one group of students released (Photos du president gribouillées au Burundi: une partie des élèves relachées,” RFI, March 16, 2019. 415 GCPEA, Education Under Attack 2018, (New York: GCPEA, 2018), p. 92. 416 “Weekly Bulletin ‘Iteka N’Ijambo’ no. 145” (Bulletin hebdomadaire « ITEKA N’IJAMBO » n°145),” Ligue Burundaise des Droits de l’Homme Iteka, January 2019, p. 8. 417 IWACU; Agence Nawe, as cited in ACLED, Event ID BUR9071; Edouard Nkurunziza, “Kirundo/Netga: Behind a double execution” (“Kirundo/Ntega: Les dessous d’une double exécution”), IWACU, August 30, 2019. 418 “Weekly Bulletin “Iteka N’Ijambo” no, 182” (Bulletin hebdomadaire « ITEKA N’IJAMBO » n°182),” Ligue Burundaise des Droits de l’Homme Iteka, October 7, 2019, p .7. 419 Radio Publique Africaine; Inzambae, as cited in ACLED, Event ID BUR9192; “Burundi: the news from home this October 3, 2019” (Burundi: Les nouvelles de chez nous de ce 3 octobre 2019”), Radio Publique Africaine. 420 GCPEA, Education under Attack 2018, (New York: GCPEA, 2018), p. 92. 421 Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH), Annual Report 2018 (Rapport Annuel de 2018), (Bujumbura: A.Pro.D.H., January 2018), p. 14. 422 Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH), Annual Report 2018 (Rapport Annuel de 2018), (Bujumbura: APRODH., January 2018), p. 44. 423 Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH), Annual Report 2018 (Rapport Annuel de 2018), (Bujumbura: APRODH., January 2018), pp. 12-13. 424 Local sources, as cited in ACLED, Event Event ID BUR6781 . Global Coalition EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2020 GCPEA to Protect Education from Attack COUNTRY PROFILES

425 “Weekly Bulletin ‘Iteka N’Ijambo’ no. 145” (Bulletin hebdomadaire « ITEKA N’IJAMBO » n°145),” Ligue Burundaise des Droits de l’Homme Iteka, January 2019, p. 9. 426 UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi,” A/HRC/39/63, August 8, 2018; Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained People (APRODH), “June 2018 Report (Rapport de Juin 2018),” June 2018. 427 “Protests against the Cancellation of Scholarships in Burundi: 2 Students Arrested (Protestations contre la suppression des bourses au Burundi: 2 étudiants arrêtés),” RFI Afrique, April 1, 2017. 428 RPA, as cited in ACLED, Event ID BUR7242. 429 “University of Burundi: Troubling fliers on Mutanga Campus (Université du Burundi: Des tracts inquiétants au campus Mutanga),” IWACU, July 7, 2018; Burundian As- sociation for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH), “July 2018 Report (Rapport de Juillet 2018),” July 2018, p. 9. 430 Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees (APRODH), “July 2018 Report (Rapport de Juillet 2018),” July 2018, p. 9; “Bujumbura: 2 students arrested by the SNR are freed” (“Bujumbura: Les 2 étudiants aretes par les SNR sont libres”), SOS Medias Burundi, July 13, 2013.