Rights groups demand release of lawyer jailed in Burundi

KIGALI, Rwanda

Six international rights groups on Tuesday called on Burundi’s authorities to “immediately and unconditionally” release lawyer Tony Germain Nkina, who has been jailed “in all likelihood because of his past human rights work.”

The groups are Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, TRIAL International, the Burundi Human Rights Initiative, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, and Protection International.

Nkina was arrested in Burundi’s northern Kayanza province on Oct. 13 last year and accused of “collaborating with the armed opposition group RED-Tabara (Resistance for the Rule of Law in Burundi),” read a joint statement.

Following months of detention, a court convicted him in June of “collaboration with rebels who attacked Burundi” and sentenced him to five years in jail.

“The prosecution has not presented any evidence to substantiate these allegations,” the statement said.

“The prosecution and imprisonment of Tony Germain Nkina is a worrying reminder that those who used to be part of Burundi’s once vibrant human rights movement are still at risk.”

The rights groups believe the “likely reason” for Nkina’s arrest was his past work with the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons, which was one of Burundi’s leading human rights groups until 2015.

“The Burundian authorities should demonstrate their commitment to protecting human rights by immediately releasing Nkina and dropping all the charges against him. Burundi’s international partners should support the calls for his release,” read the statement.

Under former President Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundi became the first country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court in October 2017, accusing the court of targeting Africans for prosecution.

Less than two years later, in March 2019, the UN human rights office in the East African country was also closed.