“Between record overcrowding, institutional starvation, and the challenges of prison decongestion”
Evariste Ndayishimiye at a sentencing and release ceremony at Mpimba Central Prison on April 27, 2021: a prison decongestion policy still hampered by opaque clemency measures, often tainted by fraud or corruption
The Burundian prison system has reached a critical threshold where overcrowding, starvation, and judicial failures combined pose an immediate risk to the lives of detainees, engaging the direct responsibility of the State. This ACAT-Burundi monitoring report for the first quarter of 2026 documents a continuing deterioration in detention conditions in Burundi. Despite official announcements of efforts to reduce overcrowding, the prison system faces a structural failure that directly threatens the lives and dignity of detainees.
