Burundi

Violent protests have gripped the streets of Bujumbura since the 26 April when the Burundian President, Pierre Nkurunziza, declared his intention to run for a third term. On 13 May, protestors celebrated the announcement that the President had been dismissed and a coup d’état was underway.

I hate this hashtag. It’s so doomsday. I wonder what was in the mind of the person who used it first. I’ve never used it… until today. And I’m using it because I’ve just realised that shit is about to hit the roof, if it hasn’t already.

A coup d’état attempt was launched in Burundi’s capital city Bujumbura in a bid to overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza—who was at the time attending an urgently scheduled East African Community heads of state summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania—amidst unrest over Nkurunziza’s bid to be re-elected

We, the members of the East African Zinduka Festival, are concerned with the current situation in Burundi.

When Faustin Kobagaya fled his northern Burundi home in March, sneaking through the night to the Rwandan border, he was running from what could soon become another violent chapter in his country’s fratricidal history.

The welcome announcement of the provisional release of human rights defender and journalist Bob Rugurika was a rare piece of good news in an otherwise gloomy environment for human rights defenders in Burundi. But the fact remains that the case against him is still pending.

It's been two months since Burundian authorities detained prominent human rights defender (HRD) Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa.

At the beginning of June the Burundian Parliament promulgated a media law that threatens the freedom of the country's press. The law requires journalists to reveal their sources, imposes fines for contravention of the law and obliges journalists to hold a university degree.

The two bodies are concerned about several recent developments in Burundi:

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