Six international human rights groups – Amnesty International, the Burundi Human Rights Initiative, DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project), Human Rights Watch, Protection International Africa and TRIAL International – condemned the decision of the Court of Appeal of Ngozi on 29 September to uphold the conviction and five-year prison sentence of Burundian lawyer Tony Germain Nkina following an unfair trial.
As dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Burundi progresses, edging towards a possible resumption of cooperation, the EU and its member states should make clear to President Évariste Ndayishimiye that his promises to respect human rights and reform the justice system cannot be taken seriously while Nkina remains in prison solely because of his past human rights activities.