Climate of fear, rising violence against journalists in Burundi
With a month to go before its national elections, Burundi – which has fallen 17 places in the 2025 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ‘World Press Freedom Index’ – has seen a disturbing escalation in attacks, threats, and arbitrary arrests of journalists.
RSF wrote on 8 May 2025 that there has been an ‘upsurge in violence against journalists … before the legislative and local elections scheduled for 5 June 2025’. It called on the authorities to do everything in their power to ensure media professionals can work in complete safety, without fear of reprisals.
RSF has recorded at least four serious cases of press freedom violations in Burundi since the beginning of April, each clearly involving security forces or alleged members of Imbonerakure, the youth group of the ruling party (CNDD-FDD).
The most recent attack, an act of unprecedented brutality, took place on 28 April. Willy Kwizera, a journalist with the independent radio station, Bonesha FM, was arrested, kidnapped and severely beaten by alleged members of the Imbonerakure.
He was reporting on the living conditions of students at the University of Burundi in the city of Bujumbura when his assailants locked him in an office, stripped him of his belongings and beat him.
The violence stopped only after he was forced to sign a statement accusing him of ‘disturbing the peace’ and colluding with exiled activists. When contacted by RSF, director of Bonesha FM Raymond Nzimana said he was very concerned for the safety of the journalist, who is now receiving threats.
The authorities have remained silent in the face of these attacks and have not responded to requests from RSF. Nzimana said he had referred the matter to the National Communication Council (CNC), which denies having been contacted.
The rector of the University of Burundi issued a statement on 29 April denying that the incident had occurred. The journalism sector has, however, pushed for justice. On 3 May, eight heads of the country’s leading media outlets issued a statement condemning the violence against journalists, including that against Kwizera.
‘The growing number of attacks on Burundian journalists in the run-up to general and local elections is extremely worrying,’ said Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF Sub-Saharan Africa.
‘The climate of fear created by the security forces and the Imbonerakure seeks to muzzle the independent press and hinder its work, which is essential in this pre-electoral period
‘RSF urges the Burundian authorities to guarantee the safety of media professionals throughout the country without delay, before, during and after the elections, and ensure that those responsible for this violence be identified and brought to justice.’
This is not the first time that Kwizera has been targeted. On 21 April 2025, he was arrested along with Ahmad Masudi Mugiraneza, a journalist for the educational public station, Radio Nderagakura, while covering a peaceful rally by citizens affected by the closure of a microfinance institution.
Both were brutally arrested by the police, despite showing their press cards.
On 6 April, a journalist from a community radio station – who remains anonymous due to safety concerns – was held up for more than two hours at a roadblock in Bujumbura on his way home from work. After presenting his press card, the police checked him at length, reproaching him for his status as a journalist.
Three days earlier, a journalist from an independent online media outlet, who also requested to remain anonymous, was violently arrested by four police officers while reporting on the pollution of Lake Tanganyika. Although he clearly stated his profession, he was publicly humiliated and stripped of his work equipment.
Passers-by recognised him and demanded his release.
Since then, he has feared for his safety, as alleged members of the Imbonerakure have threatened to ‘correct’ him.
Since the closure of several independent media outlets and the crackdown that followed the 2015 political crisis, Burundian journalists have been working in a climate of constant surveillance, censorship and fear.
Notably, journalist Sandra Muhoza has been arbitrarily detained since April 2024 for relaying information about an alleged arms distribution by the government in power in a private WhatsApp group for news professionals.
Burundi now ranks 125th out of 180 countries in the RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index, and now ranks 125th out of 180 countries and territories.
