Amnesty International thanks the Commission of Inquiry for its vital work since 2016. As the continuing grave violations it has documented demonstrate, a handful of symbolic gestures cannot compensate for the deeper, more durable reforms required to meaningfully improve the human rights situation in Burundi. We warmly welcome the release of human rights defender Germain Rukuki in June. However, in the same month lawyer Tony Germain Nkina was convicted on trumped-up charges in all likelihood because of his previous human rights work – a chilling reminder of the risks facing even those no longer actively involved in civil society.
