Members of Burundi ruling party’s youth league, the Imbonerakure, are the perpetrators of gang-rapes of women since the eruption of political conflict in 2015, the Human Rights Watch has revealed.
HRW says that many of the rape cases appear to have been aimed at family members of persons perceived to oppose the government.
The rights group also says that policemen or men wearing police uniforms have also committed rapes.
In a pattern of abuse in many regions across the East African country, men armed with guns, sticks or knives have attacked homes, most often at night, raped women and killed or abducted the male members.
Survivors are reported to have incurred immediate injuries and long-term consequences, including sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and depression.
HRW also reports that women in refugee camps are also not safe as they are also targeted and raped.
“Attackers from Burundi’s ruling party youth league tied up, brutally beat, and gang-raped women, often with their children nearby,” said Skye Wheeler, women’s rights emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Many of the women have suffered long-term physical and psychological consequences.”
