Authorities in Burundi, along with ruling party-affiliated youth groups, used threats, harassment, and intimidation to coerce voters in the country’s recent parliamentary elections, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
The ruling CNDD-FDD party claimed a landslide victory in the 5 June vote, securing 96 percent of the ballots cast and all 100 seats in the national assembly, according to provisional results released a day earlier. However, the result has been strongly condemned by opposition figures, who say the vote was manipulated through coercion and suppression of dissent.
HRW said it had interviewed activists, journalists, ordinary citizens, and even a member of the CNDD-FDD’s youth wing, the Imbonerakure. Accounts collected describe a climate of fear in the run-up to the election and on polling day itself.
“Ruling party officials and youths intimidated, harassed and threatened the population and censored media coverage to secure a landslide victory,” the organisation said in its statement.
Clementine de Montjoye, HRW’s senior Great Lakes researcher, said the election lacked any real political competition and warned that Burundi’s democratic institutions had been severely undermined.
“The ruling party took no chances. Burundi’s democracy has been hollowed out, with a ruling party unaccountable to its people and unwilling to tolerate dissent, even as economic desperation grows,” she said. “This election only further entrenches authoritarian rule and pushes Burundians deeper into a governance crisis.”
Voters recounted to HRW how members of the Imbonerakure were stationed outside polling stations, pressuring people to vote for the ruling party. One individual claimed even the head of the polling station directly instructed them to support the CNDD-FDD. All polling officials present were reportedly members of the ruling party.
In some areas, HRW noted reports of voter turnout exceeding the number of registered voters, suggesting widespread ballot manipulation.
Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye, who came to power in 2020 following the sudden death of long-time strongman Pierre Nkurunziza, has oscillated between promising reforms and maintaining tight control. Rights groups and the United Nations have repeatedly flagged serious abuses under his leadership.
The country’s dominant religious institution, the Catholic Church, has also voiced concern over the credibility of the vote. Bishop Bonaventure Nahimana, head of the Episcopal Conference, said some electoral officials were observed forcing people to vote in a specific way or casting votes on their behalf.
Media freedom was also curtailed. One journalist told HRW that election authorities instructed reporters not to report on irregularities. Other journalists, speaking to AFP under condition of anonymity, described severe constraints and observed multiple violations on election day.
Burundi, one of the world’s poorest nations, is grappling with a worsening economic crisis, marked by severe fuel shortages, spiralling inflation estimated at 40 percent by the World Bank, and reduced international aid. The situation has been exacerbated by an influx of refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
