Interview: what Chance for Democracy After President Pierre Nkurunziza’s Death?

From Human Rights Watch:

The sudden death on June 8 of Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza creates an opportunity for the small Central African country to break with its past. Nkurunziza had governed Burundi for 15 years and seemed determined to continue ruling from behind the scenes even after a new president was elected this May. His decision in April 2015 to run for a third term triggered protests and plunged Burundi into a crisis of escalating violence and repression. Thousands of perceived political opponents have been killed or disappeared by security forces and members of the ruling party’s youth league, known as the Imbonerakure. Hundreds of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries. The new president, Évariste Ndayishimiye, inherited weakened state institutions, a context of impunity, a precarious economy, and a pandemic. Birgit Schwarz talks to Human Rights Watch’s Central Africa director Lewis Mudge about whether the election of a new government and Nkurunziza’s death could finally lead to democratic change and accountability.

Read the full interview here.