Burundi releases 4,000 prisoners to ease chronic overcrowding

Burundian journalist Floriane Irangabiye (R) speaks with members of the media after walking out of the Bubanza prison following a Presidential pardon on August 16, 2024. [AFP] Burundi has released some 4,000 prisoners as part of a campaign aimed at clearing the East African nation's overcrowded jails, the presidency said on X. President Evariste Ndayishimiye announced the mass pardon earlier this month, saying it would only apply to prisoners accused of minor crimes and justifying it as a cost-saving measure. Almost 5,500 prisoners in total are due to be released from the prison population which is more than three times over capacity, according to official figures. That will amount to roughly 40 per cent of the prison population, officials said. In a statement posted late on Tuesday, the presidency said "some 4,000 of the 5,442 concerned have already returned to their families". But the head of Iteka, a local human rights group, blasted the fact that political prisoners, who number between 4,000 and 5,000, were not included. "We regret that this presidential pardon measure only concerns common law prisoners and leaves aside the thousands of political prisoners who are crammed into prisons, some of whom have already served their sentences but have not been released," said Iteka president Anschaire Nikoyagize. Inmates have told AFP that conditions in Burundi's prisons are "inhumane". "We can go several days without food, there is no medicine, most of the prisoners sleep on the floor," said one of them, speaking on condition of anonymity. Ndayishimiye's administration set free 5,255 inmates in 2021, announcing a programme to reduce prison overcrowding. The leader, who took power in 2020, has been praised for gradually ending years of isolationism under former president Pierre Nkurunziza's chaotic and bloody rule. But Burundi's human rights record remains poor, with ongoing reports of repression against journalists, activists and opposition figures.

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