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Story behind
Armel Niyongere, Dieudonné Bashirahishize, Vital Nshimirimana and Lambert Nigarura are four lawyers, human rights defenders and activists from Burundi. They are prominent and well-respected figures within Burundian civil society and their local communities.
They publicly denounced and condemned the use of violence by the Government of Burundi, including following citizens’ protests in 2015, when the former Burundian President, Pierre Nkurunziza, sought a third term in violation of the country’s Constitution.
Armel Niyongere, Dieudonné Bashirahishize, Vital Nshimirimana and Lambert Nigarura are Burundian human rights lawyers.
They worked to document serious human rights violations and support victims seeking justice. In 2016, they engaged with the UN Committee against Torture during its review of Burundi, providing information about the human rights situation in the country.
Their cooperation with the United Nations came at a heavy cost.
What happened
Following their engagement with the Committee, three of the lawyers were disbarred and one was suspended from practising law. Facing increasing risks and fearing further persecution, all four had to flee Burundi and rebuild their lives in exile.
Leaving Burundi did not end the reprisals.
The lawyers continued to face punishment linked to their cooperation with the UN human rights system. They were accused of participating in an insurrectional movement and an attempted coup d’état and became the subject of criminal proceedings.
In 2021, three of the four lawyers were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. The judgment also ordered financial penalties and the seizure of assets belonging to them and their families. To this day, their assets remain frozen in Burundi.
Measures taken in Burundi continue to affect their lives, livelihoods and families across borders. Exile has not shielded them from punishment. Instead, the consequences of cooperating with the United Nations followed them beyond their country’s borders.
The lawyers remain disbarred or suspended from their profession and unable to return home safely. Their case has repeatedly been raised by States and UN experts as a serious example of reprisals against those who engage with the UN human rights system.
Despite exile, professional sanctions and criminal convictions, the four lawyers have continued their human rights work.
For years, they pursued justice through the very international mechanisms for which they were punished. Their persistence led to a landmark outcome in 2025, when the UN Committee against Torture found that Burundi had violated the Convention against Torture by retaliating against them for cooperating with the Committee.
What do we want
We want transnational repression against Armel, Dieudonné, Lambert & Vital to end so they can speak out freely, continue their human rights work, and either return home safely or live abroad without fear of retaliation.
