Former Burundian policeman and renowned human rights defender Pierre Claver Mbonimpa is set to be honored as joint winner of the 2007 Martin Ennals Human Rights Defender of the Year, on October 2nd. The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, created in 1993, is granted annually to someone who has demonstrated an exceptional record of combating human rights violations by courageous and innovative means. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights First and the World Organisation Against Torture are among ten of the world’s leading human rights NGOs who form the selection jury.

Mr. Mbonimpa, founder and president of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH) is known throughout Burundi for his unwavering dedication to the protection of the rights of prisoners in his country. A former prisoner and victim of torture himself, Mr Mbonimpa has fearlessly campaigned against state-sanctioned torture in his strife-torn country for over a decade. Burundi’s criminal justice system is currently struggling to recover from the damaging effects of 13 years of civil war. Despite new protective laws, torture and other human rights violations are still rampant in the country’s overcrowded prisons.

Since 2006, IBJ and Mr Mbonimpa’s APRODH began working together to strengthen Burundi’s criminal justice system through supporting local lawyers and promoting the rights of all citizens to competent legal representation, protection from cruel and unusual punishment and to a fair trial.

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa becomes the second of IBJ’s African partners to receive the Martin Ennals Award after celebrated Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights Director, Arnold Tsunga in 2006.