Public protests and government repression, including the use of torture and lethal force (Amnesty International, 2015), continue to escalate since Nkurunziza was awarded a third term after July 2015 elections that the main opposition parties boycotted, the African Union (AU) refused to endorse through election observers (Daily Maverick, 2015), and United Nations (UN) observers said were neither credible nor free (Guardian, 2015).
The government’s actions stand in sharp contrast to the convictions that Burundi citizens expressed in the most recent Afrobarometer survey, in September-October 2014, including support for democracy, for free and fair elections, and for limiting presidential terms to a maximum of two. In particular, Burundians value democracy as the protection of civil liberties and personal freedom and as peace, unity, and power-sharing – all of which are threatened by the current crisis.
