Burundi: Independence of truth commission and criminal court questioned

Officials from the United Nations and the Burundian government have agreed to terms for setting up two postconflict institutions - one for reconciliation and the other for justice - but opposition leaders have questioned the proposed bodies’ objectivity. A UN delegation from New York met government officials from 26-31 March, after which they issued a joint communiqué announcing the framework for both a truth and reconciliation commission and a special court for prosecuting crimes against humanity committed in Burundi since it gained independence from Belgium in 1962.