GENEVA — The United Kingdom has raised concerns about human rights in Burundi ahead of the country’s 2027 presidential election, citing reports of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and restrictions on fundamental freedoms.
In a statement to the U.N. Human Rights Council’s 63rd session, published Sept. 21, the UK said the findings of the Special Rapporteur on Burundi pointed to “the shrinking of civic and political space.” It called on Burundi to protect citizens’ right to take part “freely and peacefully” in public life.
The UK asked the rapporteur: “What practical steps can the international community take to support conditions for a credible, and inclusive, 2027 presidential election in Burundi?”
What the rapporteur reported
Fortuné Gaetan Zongo of Burkina Faso presented his report to the Council on Sept. 18. He said it was prepared without any cooperation from Burundi’s government since 2022, and that warning signs of an electoral crisis before the May 2027 vote are already visible and the window for prevention is narrowing.
He cited four warning signs:
- Severely restricted pluralism. The ruling CNDD-FDD won 96.5% of the vote and all 100 seats in the 2025 legislative elections.
- Barriers to competing. Prohibitive presidential candidacy fees and a two-year wait before a party leaver can run as an independent risk excluding credible candidates before the campaign starts.
- Coercion. According to information gathered by his mandate, 402 people were killed in 2025 and 182 in the first six months of 2026, and 80 were abducted or disappeared. He said the violations were allegedly attributable in particular to the National Intelligence Service, the police and the ruling party’s Imbonerakure youth wing.
- A repeat of earlier patterns. The exclusion, intimidation, violence and impunity documented before the 2015, 2020 and 2025 votes.
He said journalists, human rights defenders and opponents remain exposed to surveillance, reprisals and exile, that self-censorship is widespread and that the judiciary’s independence remains compromised. He also cited a 143% cumulative rise in consumer prices between 2022 and 2025 and said the Burundian franc has lost more than 87% of its value against the dollar since 2015. He welcomed the release of journalists Kenny Claude Nduwimana and Sandra Muhoza.
Zongo urged Burundi to reopen civic, political and media space, revise electoral code provisions on candidacy fees and independent candidates, ensure the independence of the electoral commission, demobilize Imbonerakure members in security roles, let the U.N. human rights office reopen in the country, and accept long-term independent international election observation. Cooperation, he said, is “neither a concession nor interference.”
Burundi’s response
Two days after Zongo presented his report, Foreign Minister Édouard Bizimana dismissed the mandate in a Sept. 20 post on X. “It is high time we put an end to this big joke of special rapporteur on Burundi,” he wrote. “How can Mr. Zongo feed on social media and pretend to be telling the truth?” The post came a day before the UK statement was published.
Zongo separately said refugee returns from Tanzania have accelerated and could revive unresolved grievances before the election, and he called for returns to be strictly voluntary, safe and dignified.
The Human Rights Council created the Special Rapporteur mandate in 2021, after ending its Commission of Inquiry on Burundi. The mandate was most recently extended by a 2025 Council resolution. The Council’s session runs in Geneva until Oct. 7.
