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III. Methodology

Researchers from Human Rights Watch and the Burundian Association for the Promotion of Human Rights and Detained Persons (Association pour la Protection des Droits Humains et des Personnes Détenues, APRODH) planned and carried out the research for this report. They interviewed 41 victims of hospital detention in six public hospitals: Prince Régent Charles Hospital in Bujumbura; Prince Louis Rwagasore Clinic in Bujumbura; Roi Khaled Hospital (the Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Kamenge) in Bujumbura; Gitega Hospital (Gitega province, central Burundi); Ngozi Hospital (Ngozi province, northern Burundi) and Muramvya Hospital (Muramvya province, central Burundi). They also interviewed hospital staff, including hospital directors, financial and administrative directors, doctors, nurses, and social workers. In addition, they interviewed representatives of local and international organizations working in the healthcare sector, public health experts, representatives of donor governments and agencies, and officials of the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender. APRODH observers interviewed hospital managers and others in five other hospitals in three other provinces (Karuzi Hospital, Muyinga Hospital, and Bururi, Rumonge and Matana Hospitals in Bururi province).¹

We interviewed most patients when they were still in hospital detention, in February 2006.  When citing the length of detention we generally refer to the amount of time the patient had been held at the time of the interview; we were not in a position comprehensively to monitor how much longer they may have subsequently spent in detention. Pseudonyms are used in this report for all hospital patients, to protect the identities.

Researchers also used quantitative data provided by the hospitals about the loss of income from insolvent patients. Although the format and detail of the reports varied significantly, researchers were able to analyze statistics from eight hospitals to determine changes over time, including, for example, the number of detained patients and the groups most commonly affected by detention.

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