Burundi: Soldiers Held in Bukumbura Prison go on Strike

An estimated 300 imprisoned soldiers went on strike on Monday, at Mpimba Prison, the main prison in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, paralysing the admission and transfer of new prisoners and preventing court hearings. The army prisoners are requesting temporary immunity, which had previously been granted to some 500 members of the main former rebel group, the CNDD-FDD. Some of the soldiers have been in jail since the beginning of Burundi's 10-year civil war and claim they had been forced to commit crimes by political leaders who are now free.