By RFIPublié on 06-12-2019Modified on 06-12-2019 at 04:21
Human Rights Watch publishes report on abuses related to voluntary contributions to finance the 2020 elections in Burundi. The government has been organizing a national campaign since the end of 2017 to collect donations in order to have enough funds to organize these elections. But according to the report of the NGO, these contributions are in fact payments made compulsory by the Imbonerakure, the young league of the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD.
Human Rights Watch refers to witnesses who have had to pay the contribution several times, sometimes more than the official amount. According to the NGO, there would be many abuses on the part of the local administrations but also the Imbonerakure . This ruling party youth league is described in the report as working alongside the police.
A league that does not hesitate to use violence and intimidation to force citizens to pay whatever the cost. In some areas, the NGO even denounces the presence of roadblocks mounted by Imbonerakure, to prohibit the passage to people who have no proof of payment of the contribution. Access to care, hospitals or any public service also depends on the payment of the tax.
Human Rights Watch questions in its report the role of this youth league, which has no legal authority in administrative tasks such as collecting money. But its influence since December 2017 and the launching of voluntary contributions would have considerably expanded. The NGO is now worried about an intensification of tensions ahead of the presidential and legislative elections in May 2020.
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