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VI. Conditions of Incarceration 

There are 11 prisons in ten of the 17 provinces in Burundi and over one-hundred police lock-ups and communal holding cells throughout the country. ⁶⁸  According to the Director of Penitentiary Affairs, as of December 31, 2006, the prison system in Burundi was operating at more than double capacity,with the largest prison, Mpimba central prison in Bujumbura, holding over three times its intended capacity. Four-hundred-one of the total 8336 prisoners in the country were minors between the ages of 13 and 18 years old.⁶⁹ Over 300 children are currently awaiting trial while only 83 have been convicted.⁷⁰

There are no separate prisons for children and during the day children mingle with adult prisoners. Detainees who have not been tried are housed with those who have been convicted. 

Seven provinces have no prison facilities, imposing an added burden on persons imprisoned from those provinces.⁷¹ Held far from their families, they rarely receive visits and do not receive the occasional gifts of food and clothing relied on by other prisoners to supplement the meager rations provided by the prisons.  This lack of moral and material support weighs particularly heavily on children imprisoned far from home.

All detention facilities in Burundi are extremely overcrowded. According to one child imprisoned in 2005, he was at that time housed in a room for minors with one other boy and one adult. In mid-2006, he shared the same room with 17 other boys.⁷²

Girls in prison Human Rights Watch researchers found few girls in prison. Of the 136 children held in the central prison in Bujumbura on February 12, 2007 only six were girls and it appears the proportion is similar in other prisons. Overall, Human Rights Watch spoke to seven girls in the course of this research. Girls were charged with many of the same crimes as boys, such as theft, but in addition several were accused of infanticide following the death of their newly born babies.  Girls and adult women prisoners, are housed in the same prisons as men and boys (with the exception of a single prison for women in Ngozi province) and are not ordinarily separated from them during the day.  While there is some effort to separate male and female prisoners, the mixing of male and female prisoners places girls and women at risk of sexual assaults, which has occurred and has also resulted in occasional cases of pregnancy among female prisoners. Girls generally suffer from the same poor conditions of housing, food, and lack of education as do boys. Though outside the scope of this report, it should be noted that on December 31, 2006 there were 58 babies in Burundian prisons. Female prisoners are allowed to keep their children with them, until the child is around five years old. (Data on girls collected by Human Rights Watch observations and interviews at prisons in Burundi in May, June, and August 2006.)

Prisons provide food, but little else. Most prisoners arrange for themselves other material necessities such as mattresses, bed covers, and cooking utensils. They often have only one set of clothes. There are no formal educational opportunities and, in most prisons, there are no organized activities other than chapel services.⁷³

Most prisons in Burundi are organized around a large rectangular courtyard with rooms of varying size around three sides of the yard.⁷⁴ Most have a small common room area used for religious services and informal classes taught by educated adult prisoners. All prisons have at least one watertap, but in some cases itoperates during limited hours. There is a communal kitchen in each prison, but most prisoners cook and re-heat their own food, filling the courtyards withthick black smoke that makes breathing difficult for all in the vicinity. Prison directors told Human Rights Watch researchers that they recognize that smoke inhalation may be detrimental to health of the prisoners.⁷⁵ 

Within prison walls, an adult male prisoner is chosen by each prison director to manage most aspects of life. Known as the “General,” this prisoner is the de-facto overall leader of the prison population and the representative of the prisoners.  There are also chiefs of each room, usually chosen by the room members but occasionally chosen by the General.⁷⁶  Such persons exercise great control over the conditions of life of other prisoners with the General designating room assignments and occasionally doling out punishments for misconduct to prisoners, while the chief is often charged with distributing food rations and collecting money to buy light bulbs or candles or other supplies. Chiefs may control access to privileges, such as desirable sleeping space, which they may sell to others. 

In some prisons visited in 2006, older children were chiefs of rooms where children slept but in other cases adults had this role.⁷⁷ Jean-Claude K. was selected by other boys to be the chief of their room when he was 16 years old. He is now 20. He continued to serve as chief of the minors’ rooms despite having become an adult. Jean-Claude K. said:

I am responsible for closing the minors’ area at 10 p.m. and opening the area at 6 a.m. When a new minor arrives, we ask him for money to pay for things like light bulbs. If he doesn’t have money, we let him in, but we wait until he receives a visit from someone and then ask for the money.⁷⁸

Violation of the right to dignity and hygiene

As a result of severe overcrowding, some children lacked adequate or appropriate space for sleeping. At Ruyigi prison, Jean-Bosco S. told Human Rights Watch researchers, “Sleeping is very hard, as there are about 27 of us in one room. Some of us have to sit up all night.”⁷⁹  In at least six prisons visited by Human Rights Watch researchers in 2006, they lacked money to “buy” the rights to better sleeping arrangements.⁸⁰ Some had been forced to sleep outside the minors’ room in the courtyard. ⁸¹

In Muyinga prison, Ferdinand S. who is an orphan said that he has been forced to sleep outside in the courtyard, with about 13 other minors, because he does not have the 2000 FBU (US$2) to pay for a place inside the room for minors. “I don’t have any blankets or a mattress but I have a military jacket that I use as a cover,” said Ferdinand S.⁸² Pascal N., in the same prison, said that he had managed to negotiate the price of 500 FBU (US$.50) to sleep on the cement floor in the minors’ room, where there were about nine other children. He has made a mattress out of plastic bags stuffed with grass. He had only been able to pay the money because his father had brought it to him on a visit.⁸³

In Bubanza prison, children said they are required to pay 1000 FBU (US$1) to sleep on a natural mattress made of grass in the juveniles’ room, but that for 5000 FBU (US$5) they could sleep on the beds made of suspended planks of wood. “There are 13 children in my room,” said Gabriel M., who is accused of stealing a goat from a neighbor. “There are five who can afford to sleep on the planks and the rest of us are on the floor.”⁸⁴ In Ngozi prison, the children said that there were empty beds in the minors’ room, but according to Benoit N., “unless you pay money, you cannot touch them.”⁸⁵

Some children purchased mattresses from prisoners about to be released. Prices varied from one prison to the next among those visited by Human Rights Watch researchers but in all cases the amount was much more than most children could afford. Several children said that they sold part or all of their daily food ration to secure a sleeping space in the rooms for children.⁸⁶

Human Rights Watch researchers found at least one water point available in all prisons visited, but found no water available in many of the rooms where children slept.   Once the doors are closed for the curfew, children in these rooms cannot get water to drink. Several children asked Human Rights Watch researchers for bottles or a bucket so that they could collect and store water to drink during the night.⁸⁷

In all the prisons visited by Human Rights Watch researchers, children showed the researchers bug bites and skin rashes, presumably the result of unhygienic conditions.⁸⁸ Children who slept outside as well as many who slept inside buildings were exposed to mosquito bites, a circumstance that increased the likelihood of contracting malaria.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has provided prisons with mosquito nets, but some children said they had sold them to purchase food.

The ICRC conducts regular visits to the prisons and holding cells throughout Burundi, though they do not provide first aid or direct medical care to prisoners. ICRC officers liaise with nurses in the prisons to encourage and maintain acceptable standards in the prisons and draw particular cases they find to the attention of the prison authorities. In 2006, ICRC paid the bills for medications purchased by the pharmacies located inside the prisons, hence ensuring access to medicines for prisoners. This program ended in December 2006 and it is now the responsibility of the prison administration.⁸⁹ The prison administration is also required to pay for medical care of seriously ill or wounded prisoners, which involves sending the prisoner to a local hospital. Human Rights Watch found one case in 2006 where a sixteen-year-old former FNL combatant had been shot in the hip during a skirmish with government forces the year before. He had never been treated for his injury and showed signs of infection extending from his hip to his knee and lower leg.⁹⁰ His surgery was eventually paid for by a local non-government organization (NGO).

Lack of separation from adults

Under pressure from NGOs to comply with international law and the Burundian constitution regarding separate quarters for children, Burundian prison authorities began a few years ago to establish separate sleeping facilities for minors at most prisons.⁹¹ In each of the ten prisons visited by Human Rights Watch researchers in 2006, there was at least one room designated as a sleeping area for children, but segregation at night was not consistently enforced.

During daytime hours, from roughly 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., children are in contact with adult prisoners in most prisons, leaving them vulnerable to abuse. Children frequently told Human Rights Watch researchers that they feared adult prisoners. Daniel N., who has been awaiting trial for theft of his neighbor’s green beans for two years, said that he had recently been hit by an adult prisoner with a large piece of wood. “He was drunk and angry when he hit me and he got really aggressive. I tried to just get away but he hit me and part of the wood went into my eye,” he said.⁹² Human Rights Watch researchers observed that his eye was bloodied and infected and a visiting nurse confirmed the nature of his injuries.

Some children said that they had become adept at avoiding confrontation and keeping to themselves. Innocent N., a 16-year-old, said “Adults look to do things to us sometimes. When we are eating, adults will come by and hit us or steal our food. I think that hitting us makes them feel better.”⁹³ Gaspar N., a 15-year-old accused of theft who had served as a child soldier [in the FNL], told Human Rights Watch:

 Some adults are really mean to us here. The big criminals, you just have to stay away from them, if you can. Those who are on death row, they threaten us sometimes. They don’t hurt us everyday, but they will hit you.⁹⁴

Even after separate sleeping quarters were established, prison authorities continued on some occasions and for different reasons to permit adults to share sleeping space with children.

In Bubanza prison in 2006, lack of space made it impossible to assign all children to separate sleeping quarters. There was one room exclusively for children but another room where adults and children slept together. Lambert N., once a child soldier for the FNL, said that when he arrived at the prison, he asked to sleep in the minors’ room, but “the General” told him there was no space and he would have to wait.⁹⁵ He has since turned 18 years old.

In Ruyigi prison, the director told Human Rights Watch researchers that he placed some of the oldest adults in the children’s room in order to provide guidance and oversight. “I put five older men in the room with the minors. This way they have a father figure in the prison with them,” he said.⁹⁶

In another prison, Raphael N., a 15-year-old boy, told Human Rights Watch researchers that he had admitted participating in a plot led by three adults to kill his father. Because of the gravity of the crime, he was assigned to adult sleeping quarters, in the same room as others accused in the same case. After he testified against the adults in court, they threatened to kill him during the night. When Raphael N. told prison authorities about the threats, he was reassigned to the minors’ room.⁹⁷

In Muramvya prison Patrick H., who was accused of trying to escape, was assigned by “the General” to the adults’ sleeping area. Patrick told Human Rights Watch researchers that he was often harassed by the adult prisoners and that was forced to wash their clothes to avoid having problems with them.⁹⁸

In distinction to the above cases where prison authorities knew of and permitted the shared sleeping arrangements, there were other cases where authorities were unaware that adults were entering the children’s quarters without permission. At Rutana prison, children told Human Rights Watch researchers that an adult sometimes sneaked into the children’s room just before curfew and spent the night soliciting sex from the boys. When the researchers raised the issue with a prison administrator, he said he was unaware of the problem but would investigate it.⁹⁹

Even in prisons where children sleep separately, they must sometimes share toilets and showers with the adults. In Ruyigi, the prison director told Human Rights Watch researchers that male prisoners were locked in their quarters from 11:30 am to 2pm to allow female prisoners to use the one shower in the prison but according to the children, there were no such arrangements to allow children exclusive use of the facilities.¹⁰⁰ “There are no separate showers and toilets for us, the children,” said Jean-Bosco S. “It’s bad for the kids when the adults are in the bathrooms. I check to see who is in there before going to shower.”¹⁰¹

Sexual violence and prostitution

Although even consensual sexual relations between males are socially regarded as unacceptable in Burundi, dozens of child prisoners nonetheless described forced or coerced sexual activity, including between men and boys, in the prison.¹⁰² At least a few children in every prison visited by Human Rights Watch said they had either been offered money, food, alcohol or drugs by a male adult prisoner in exchange for sexual services or that they knew someone who had accepted money or other benefits for such services.  Emmanuel H. said that two adult prisoners at Bururi prison were known to give boys marijuana in exchange for sexual services. He claimed that prison authorities knew this but did not punish the offenders.¹⁰³

A 15-year-old boy accused of stealing manioc from a field, told Human Rights Watch researchers that he had been approached by two male prisoners seeking sexual services. “I really need to buy a plate and a pot so I can eat, but I don’t want to have sex for those things, because it’s wrong.”¹⁰⁴

Abdoul N., a 16-year-old boy who had been sentenced to ten years of imprisonment for rape, said:

When the adult prisoners get some money, they come to us looking for sex. They try to get us to go with them to the showers or to the areas around the chapel. I know it is not right, so I don’t accept, but there are others who do. When they are caught, the minor is sent to sleep with the adults for a few days.¹⁰⁵

Some boys told Human Rights Watch researchers that they knew of instances in which boys had been raped, but very few admitted to being victims themselves.  Adolph M., currently serving a five-year prison sentence for stealing US$150, told Human Rights Watch researchers that he had been raped three times as a 17-year-old in Rutana prison. He said:

The first time, I was in the shower, which was very small. An adult came in. He just forced himself on me. He was much bigger than me, so I couldn’t do anything and I was in pain. I was too afraid and too ashamed to tell anyone and he kept coming back to me. I never told anyone in the prison administration. I still have pain in my kidneys and in my stomach. I have diarrhea a lot.¹⁰⁶

When asked about the problem of sexual violence and prostitution in the prisons, both the former and current Directors of Penitentiary Affairs admitted awareness of these problems and said that they had never heard of a case in which someone was prosecuted for rape or for soliciting sex with minors while incarcerated.¹⁰⁷

Lack of proper food and nutrition

Like too many Burundians, imprisoned children told Human Rights Watch researchers that they were hungry. Food supplied to children in Burundian prisons is insufficient both in total calories and in nutritional value, a particularly serious concern given the crucial growth that occurs during adolescence.¹⁰⁸ Children inadequately nourished during these years of development can never undo the effects of long periods of poor nutrition.

The problem of food is most severe at the holding cells and police lock-ups where authorities do not feed detainees. Family and friends are supposed to provide food to those detained in such places but many detainees are severely malnourished, particularly if they spend a long period in the lock-up.¹⁰⁹  Orphans and street children, who cannot rely on support from home, generally survive on food shared with them by other detainees or food occasionally provided by religious groups or NGOs. Adrien N., 16 years old, accused of rape, spent two weeks in a holding cell without food. When summoned by a police officer for interrogation, he was too exhausted to respond. “I told him that it would be better to kill me,” said Adrien, “than to send me back [to the cell] without food.”¹¹⁰

Once transferred to prison, children receive the same food rations as adults, 350 grams of beans and 350 grams of manioc flour per day.¹¹¹ They are also supposed to receive small rations of salt and palm oil, but according to the children interviewed, such foods were not frequently distributed. Some children said they had occasionally not received any food at all because the prisoners responsible for distribution had not apportioned the food correctly or had taken more than their fair share.¹¹² Prisoners can receive extra food or other supplies from family or friends who visit, but among the children interviewed, few were so fortunate as to be able to count on such supplements.

According to the prisoners, the beans are ordinarily insufficiently cooked and require further cooking to be digestible and the manioc flour also must be cooked to be eaten. Cooking food requires having or borrowing a pot and finding charcoal or bits of wood for fuel. Several children told Human Rights Watch researchers that they worked for adult prisoners, cooking their food and washing their clothes, in exchange for having the use of their pots and part of their fuel.¹¹³

Juvenal C., 14 years old, had recently been released from the central prison when he spoke to us. His story was typical of the many children Human Rights Watch interviewed. He told us, “I had problems of dizziness and being tired all the time from the lack of food in prison. I would just sit on the floor and feel awful. I wouldn’t always get the same ration as the others. I had to sell some food to cook the rest of the food.”¹¹⁴

Lack of access to education

While campaigning for the presidency in 2005, candidate Pierre Nkurunziza promised free primary school education for all Burundian children.¹¹⁵ Once elected, he kept that promise for the general population, even though it entailed serious logistical problems for a system strained by the arrival of massive numbers of new students.¹¹⁶  Praised for this important reform,¹¹⁷ President Nkurunziza has unfortunately not delivered the same opportunities to children in prison. All children have a right to education, including free primary education.¹¹⁸

According to information provided by the 136 children incarcerated at Mpimba central prison in early February 2007, only nine had stayed in school beyond sixth grade before their arrest. Twenty percent had never been to school at all.¹¹⁹ Many of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch researchers voiced a strong desire to learn something during their time in prison. Unable to help themselves or their families by earning money, the children see this time in prison as the time to learn, but prisons offer no formal opportunities for education. In some prisons, adult prisoners have organized informal classes in reading, math, and French.

One 13-year-old in Gitega prison said that he asked adults to teach him what they had learned in school. He had never been to school because since he was very young, he had worked as a herder earning a salary of 4000 FBU (US $4) per month. He found a prisoner willing to teach him to read the Bible which did not satisfy the child. He said, “I want to learn to write, but he will only teach me the words of God.”¹²⁰