President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision in 2015 to run for a controversial third term and his subsequent reelection pushed Burundi into a prolonged political, humanitarian, and human rights crisis, which has adversely impacted the economy. To help fund the 2020 elections, the government—dominated by the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces de défense de la démocratie, CNDD-FDD)—and members of the party’s youth wing, the Imbonerakure, orchestrated a national campaign to collect “voluntary” contributions from the population.

According to a government order published in December 2017, the contributions were to be collected in various ways, including a voluntary donation of 2 000 Burundian Francs (US$1.08) per household and 1 000 Burundian Francs ($0.54) per student of voting age, and direct deduction from the salaries of public sector workers and civil servants for two years. Between December 2017 and July 2019, when the president announced the suspension of the elections-contribution collections, local administrative officials and members of the Imbonerakure collected levies from the population across the country.

The Imbonerakure, who are feared by the population for their brutality and cruelty, are widely described as having more power than local police. This report documents how they arbitrarily, and sometimes brutally, enforced the payment of financial and in-kind contributions to the elections. The government’s responsibility for the wrongdoing of the Imbonerakure has been established by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Burundi in cases where they act under the direction of agents of the State. In most cases, they have not been held responsible for abuses committed while collecting contributions.

The Imbonerakure often collaborate with local administrative officials, the police, and the intelligence services. According to Burundian law, administrative officials represent the State at the local level.

This report focuses on abuses committed between December 2017 and July 2019 in 13 of the country’s 18 provinces, assessing to what extent the policy was abusive and implemented arbitrarily, through interviews with refugees in neighboring countries who fled these provinces, and phone interviews with individuals who were residing in Burundi during the period covered by the research.

Report by the Human Rights Watch