Armel Niyongere
As many other prominent HRDs in Burundi at the moment, Armel Niyongere faces a number of risks due to his work for the independence of the civil society, and particularly his participation in the campaign against a third mandate by the President. Armel has also been active in defending HRDs facing judicial harassment, including Pierre Claver Mbonimpa.
As a result of the refusal of President Pierre Nkurunziza to yield power and instead move to amend the Constitution and carry forth with elections that many saw as fraudulent, Burundi entered into a period of political violence and civil unrest in 2015. Though it had had a vibrant civil society since the mass violence of the 1990s, political and ethnic forces threatened to tear the country apart yet again. Until President Nkurunziza's bid to seek a third term in office, flouting constitutional term limits, Burundi had enjoyed a decade of relative political stability and its civil society was thought to be among the most vibrant in the African Great Lakes region. The president's move led to massive street protests, initially supported by the country's prominent human rights defenders. The situation quickly escalated into civil unrest, particularly in Bujumbura, and violent clashes between police forces and the protesters became routine. Many human rights defenders found themselves targeted and were forced to leave the country, along with tens of thousands of citizens fearing the worst. Those who remained have been targeted as the situation spirals out of control. All independent radio stations were shut down and their studios burned down in mid-May 2015, days after the government imposed a media blackout to halt the broadcasting of information on the ongoing demonstrations.
