Name: The World Organisation Against Torture
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Geneva, February 3rd, 2026

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) has once again condemned the State of Burundi for acts of torture committed by members of the National Intelligence Service (SNR) against Donatien Ndabigeze, represented by Armel Niyongere, a Burundian lawyer and Secretary General of SOS Torture/Burundi, with the support of the OMCT-CACIT SOS Torture Litigator’s Group in Africa.

On April 24, 2016, while Donatien Ndabigeze, a former National Police officer, was at home with his family, a team of five soldiers in uniform launched an attack with automatic weapons and grenades, acting as part of a security operation under the National Intelligence Service (SNR), a structure then at the heart of the targeted repression against former members of the security forces suspected of opposition. Mr. Ndabigeze's wife and cousin were executed on the spot. Mr. Ndabigeze himself was seriously wounded in the lower limbs by a grenade thrown by the soldiers. The soldiers left him to his fate without providing any assistance, and the injuries left him with a disability in his right leg. This attack was intended to punish him for his alleged involvement in the assassination of a lieutenant colonel in the Burundian army. Following the incident, the applicant received death threats, forcing him into exile. Since then, no investigation has been opened by the authorities to prosecute the perpetrators.

In a decision released on December 1st, 2025, the CAT concluded that these acts constituted torture within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention against Torture. It further considered that transporting the applicant to the hospital in the same ambulance as the bodies of his family members constituted inhuman and degrading treatment, contrary to Article 16 of the Convention. The failure of the authorities to conduct an investigation almost ten years after the events and more than three years after the case was referred to the Committee also constituted a violation by Burundi of Articles 12 and 14 of the Convention. The Committee recalled that the persistent failure to investigate and provide redress constituted a continuing violation of the Convention, engaging Burundi's international responsibility until effective measures were taken. The Committee called on the State to conduct an independent, impartial, and thorough investigation in order to identify, prosecute, and punish those responsible, and to grant Mr. Ndabigeze full reparation.

In this case, as in many others, the State of Burundi has never responded to the CAT's communications. This lack of cooperation also constitutes, in the Committee's view, a violation of article 22 of the Convention.

Over the past two years, Burundi has already been condemned twice by the Committee Against Torture for acts of torture committed in particular by members of the National Intelligence Service. While these decisions represent an important recognition for the victims and their families, they have unfortunately never been enforced to date. In addition, members of the SNR are still regularly involved in killings, acts of torture, and arbitrary detentions, which almost always go unpunished. Between January and August 2025 alone, 65 cases of torture were recorded, the majority perpetrated by SNR agents.

“The accumulation of decisions by the Committee against Torture condemning Burundi shows that violations are documented and recognised, but unfortunately remain without effect. Without a real break with the cycle of impunity and the adoption of structural measures by the authorities, victims will continue to be deprived of justice, reparation, and dignified treatment”, said Armel Niyongere, Burundian lawyer and Secretary General of SOS Torture/Burundi.

The SOS-Torture in Africa Litigator’s Group also calls on United Nations member states, Burundi's bilateral partners, and African regional mechanisms to draw all the necessary conclusions from these persistent violations, in particular by incorporating the implementation of the Committee against Torture's decisions into their political dialogue and cooperation with Burundi. Burundi must implement these decisions without delay and in good faith, so that victims can obtain justice and reparation, and so that all necessary measures are taken to ensure that such violations are not repeated.

Click here to read the decision of the UN Committee against Torture.

The signatories:

The following lawyers are signatories to this statement:

Barr. Djerandi Laguerre Dionro, Lawyer at the Bar of Chad

Barr. AMAZOHOUN Ferdinand, Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT)/Togo

Barr. AMEGAN Claude, Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT)/Togo

Barr. DOUMBIA Yacouba, Ivorian Human Rights Movement (MIDH)/Côte d'Ivoire

Barr. RAHMOUNE Aissa, Safeguard Committee of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (CS-LADDH)/Algeria

Mr. Christian LOUBASSOU, Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT-Congo) /Republic of Congo

Barr. SJF de Chantal Lenga, Lawyer at the Bar of Burkina Faso / Burkina Faso

Barr. NKONGHO Felix, Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA)/Cameroon

Barr. WEMBOLUA Henri, Alliance for the Universality of Fundamental Rights (AUDF)/DRC

Barr. Annie MASENGO, Network of Human Rights Defenders (RDDH)/DRC

Barr. NODJITOLOUM Salomon, Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT/CHAD)

Barr. NIYONGERE Armel, SOS-Torture Burundi/ Burundi

Barr. ZANINYANA Jeanne d'Arc Collective of Lawyers for the Defence of Victims of International Law Crimes committed in Burundi (CAVIB)/ Burundi

Barr. KADIDIATOU Hamadou, Association for the Defence and Protection of Children and Women (ADEPE-F/ESPOIR) / Niger

Barr. NKONGME Dorcas Mirette, Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA)

Barr. SOUILAH Mohsen, SANAD Centres/ Tunisia

Barr. KWAMBA TSIHINGEJ Frédéric, AFIA MAMA/ DRC

Barr. TRAORÉ Drissa, Lawyer at the Bar of Côte d'Ivoire

Mrs. Alexandrine TCHEKESSI, Executive Director, Changement Social Bénin

The SOS-Torture Litigator’s Group in Africa is a group of lawyers from the OMCT's SOS-Torture network that aims to contribute to strengthening prevention, accountability and redress in cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It is made up of 16 African lawyers and is sponsored by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT).

For further information, please contact: Guy Valère BADANARO, Coordinator of the Judicial Intervention Group/SOS-Torture in Africa; Collective of Associations Against Impunity in Togo (CACIT) / Tel: (+228) 91 34 14 77. Email: guyvalre1@gmail.com