The promises have been kept. A month after the commitments taken during the roundtable discussion, 3 lawyers left Burundi’s capital city, led by IBJ Legal Fellow – Herman Ndayishimiye-, on November 24th to head to Gitega’s prison where André Mbayabya, the Prison Director, was waiting for them. Together, they scoured prison records and identified 182 cases of irregular pre-trial detentions. Among this overwhelming figure, 28 cases were identified as requiring immediate atention. The 4 lawyers therefore met with their clients, got familiar with each of their stories and prepared their defense strategy. As agreed with Gitega’s prosecutor and the magistrates who had attended the roundtable discussion, a special court session was conducted the day after to expedite these 28 cases. The result was a resounding success: all 28 detainees were immediately released.

This is a particularly significant result in today’s Burundi: recent prison riots – first in Gitega and then in Mpimba, Bujumbura’s central prison – have thrown the light on the detrimental prison living conditions, which have gotten worse since the peak of 11,000 prisoners nationwide has been reached two months ago. Irregular pre-trial detentions overburden a prison system which is already in shambles. Prisoners are not the only one protesting against the situation: Mpimba’s prison officials have declared that they would not accept any new prisoner in the prison as long as the trial of the many pre-trial detainees is not expedited. The ball is in the court system’s court.

Above: The detainees being escorted by a policeman to the Gitega Tribunal de Grande Instance (Photo by Dieudonné Ndayishimiye)

Above: Volunteer lawyer Diane preparing the defense of a client (Photo by Dieudonné Ndayishimiye)

Above: Volunteer lawyer Zénon preparing the defense of a woman (Photo by Dieudonné Ndayishimiye)

Above: There aren’t sufficient handcuffs within Burundi’s justice system. Detainees are usually handcuffed by pairs. (Photo by Dieudonné Ndayishimiye)

Above: Volunteer lawyer Diane interviewing a client before his court hearing (Photo by Dieudonné Ndayishimiye)

Above: Burundian detainees queuing for justice (Photo by Dieudonné Ndayishimiye)

Above: Inside a women’s cell in Gitega prison (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer)

Above: Portrait of Gitega Prison Director, André Mbayabaya (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer)

Above: During the mock trial portion of the training, the defendant stands before the magistrate and the arresting officer.  (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer.)

From Monday 29th June to Friday 3rd July, an IBJ delegation met with 58 participants from all levels of the penal system in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura. The training covered the process from arrest through interrogation to detention, treating each theme separately to facilitate the atendees with precise skills.

Employing diverse means such as role play, visual representation and group discussion, the training brought a dynamism to the intricacies of legal practise. (Click here to see an online version of this training.)  Round table discussions hosted by Burundian IBJ Fellow Astère Muyango closed Monday’s training for police officers, magistrates and officials from the penal system and Thursday’s session for lawyers, bringing together the preeminent minds of Burundi’s penal system to brainstorm solutions to the crucial issues of juvenile justice and juristictional aid.

Friday, the highlight of the week for many, brought these groups together in a mock-trial with judges playing detainees, prison directors as magistrates and General Commandant of Police Bernard Sekeganda trying his hand as a lawyer. “It’s a difficult role,” he admitted, the integrated approach of the training provoking sympathies between particpants for the challenges to the work of people they often work against rather than with.

The target of the trainging, to bring together different actors in the penal process to effect an integrated and efficient system, addressed one of the greatest hindrances to justice in Burundi. “It’s a lack of respect for processes at all levels,” André Mbayabaya, director of Gitega province prison, identified as the main obstacle to justice. “We need to work together – it’s all the same system.”

Above: Particpants included magistrates, police officers, prison officials and defenders. (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer.)

The training also had frequent recourse to distributed copies of the new penal code of Burundi, encouraging the use of this document which marks both much progress made – such as a new precision in the definition of torture, aiding its eraditcation – and the work still to be done, as lack of distribution results in much of the small country operating according to the 1981 version.

With the training bisected by Burundian Independence Day, a moment of national pride gave additional resonance to the newly-equipped legal agents’ dream of a penal process of which the country can be proud. IBJ’s training session has equipped participants with the capabilities to bridge the gap between the justice system as it is and a future Burundian justice system of functioning processes and fair judgements.