Burundi Announces Release of Prisoners

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Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye announced on March 8 that 5,225 prisoners will be released in the country in order to target overcrowded jails. The presidential pardons will reduce the prison population by nearly 40 percent, a welcome decrease in a country where the prison system is operating at 304.3 percent capacity. 

The decree grants amnesty to “prisoners definitively sentenced to less than or equal to five years for all offenses with the exception of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, armed robbery, illegally owning arms, armed robbery, terrorism machinery or bioterrorism, voluntary homicide, rape, and human traffickers.” However, it is unlikely that political prisoners will receive pardons, especially opposition leaders detained following the 2015 political crisis of Pierre Nkurunziza’s presidency according to Pacifique Nininahazwe, an exiled member of Burundian Civil Society. 

Burundi suffers from serious capacity constraints throughout its justice system. The entire country is only home to eleven prisons, and eight of eighteen provinces in Burundi have no prison at all. Even more concerning, more than half of all inmates are on remand awaiting trial, which, per Burundian law, should not last more than 14 days. These structural concerns, in tandem with a lack of basic supplies and necessities like food and medical care, have left the Burundian justice system in ruins. 

As unorthodox as this policy appears, it is actually not the first time it has been pursued in Burundi. In 2010 and 2018, Nkurunziza pardoned 1300 and 2000 detainees respectively. Despite this, Félix Niragira, chairman of the Senate Justice Commission, argued that these mass pardons have done little to ease overcrowding within Burundian prisons. For instance, the decarceration efforts that occurred in 2018 did little to prevent the increase in inmates from 11,100 to more than 13,200 between 2018 and 2020. The history of criminal justice reform in Burundi thus far has cast doubt upon the effectiveness of Ndayishimiye’s newest policy. 

In a departure from previous amnesties granted to Burundian prisoners, this round of decarcerations will also apply to those charged with corruption who have since paid the embezzled funds and interest ordered by the courts. This is a significant decision in a country where corruption has been prevalent over the last few decades. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Burundi ranks 165 out of 180 in the world in terms of the presence of private and public sector corruption. This culture of corruption has served as an impetus for slow economic growth and high poverty rates within the country. While the recent administration has adopted an anti-corruption campaign, granting amnesty to these individuals represents a step back in the fight against corruption albeit in the name of depopulating crowded prisons. 

The Burundian government remains hopeful that its efforts will be a step in the right direction to heal a criminal justice system that is overworked and understaffed.