Rights abuses 'continue in Burundi despite new president'

A UN Commission of Inquiry into alleged human rights violations says that despite a new government in Burundi, there has been no progress in improving human rights.

UN investigators have said that while there had been hope for change when President Evariste Ndayishimiye replaced Pierre Nkurunziza in June so far those hopes had not been realised.

They have just completed their latest report covering May 2019 to May 2020, the UN’s fourth into Burundi, which suggests that serious violations had continued unabated.

But the investigators also looked into the current situation.

Discussing their findings, Francoise Hampson, said that though there was an expectation that the new president would usher in a new era, "there have continued to be killings ... arbitrary detention and disappearances... and that is a matter of very grave concern".