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- Take disciplinary action against officers who breach their obligations and prosecute those alleged to have committed criminal offences, including such human rights violations as torture, ill-treatment, and unlawful detention.
- Ensure that prosecutions of police officers who have been charged with crimes in Muramvya are carried out promptly, fairly, and in accordance with international trial standards.
- Ensure that all police officers comply with human rights standards relating to police functions (including those set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights, and the Convention against Torture), and abide by Burundian laws that reflect these standards (including Article 146 of the Burundian Criminal Code, and the 2004 law on the creation, organization, missions, composition, and operation of the National Police).
- Ensure that all police officers receive appropriate and sufficient training to understand their responsibilities to respect human rights as defined by the international conventions to which Burundi is a party and to prevent violations of these rights.
- Establish an official system to record and respond to complaints of abusive conduct and to track disciplinary or criminal action taken against police officers.
- Ensure prompt passage of a new criminal code prohibiting and punishing torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.
- Ensure prompt passage of a new criminal procedure code reforming the system of pre-trial detention so that Burundian law complies with international human rights standards.
- Press the Burundian government to fully investigate and sanction all abuses committed by police officers.
- In all assistance programs directed at the Burundian police, include training on human rights with a particular focus on enforcement of the prohibitions of torture and the excessive use of force. Follow through in the establishment of a proposed police working group as part of the Partners’ Coordination Group (Groupe de Coordination des Partenaires, GCP) to ensure that aid to the police is directed toward initiatives that promote human rights.
- Provide support for the Inspectorate of National Police in its efforts to gather data and track complaints against police officers.
- Closely monitor the use of funds disbursed to the police by the United Nations Peace Building Fund in order to ensure that they are used in a manner consistent with the protection and promotion of human rights.
April 2008
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