The United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB) was established by the Human Rights Council through resolution A/HRC/S-24 of 17 December 2015 which asked he High Commissioner for Human Rights to “urgently organize and dispatch on the most expeditious basis possible a mission by independent existing experts:
(a) to undertake swiftly an investigation into violations and abuses of human rights with a view to preventing further deterioration of the human rights situation;
(b) to make recommendations on the improvement of the human rights situation and on technical assistance to support reconciliation and the implementation of the Arusha Agreement;
(c) to engage with the Burundian authorities and all other relevant stakeholders, including United Nations agencies, civil society, refugees, the field presence of the Office of the High Commissioner in Burundi, authorities of the African Union, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in particular with a view to help the State to fulfil its human rights obligations, to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses, including by identifying alleged perpetrators, to adopt appropriate transitional justice measures and to maintain the spirit of the Arusha Agreement;
(d) to ensure the complementarity and coordination of this effort with other efforts of the United Nations, the African Union and other appropriate regional and international entities, drawing on the expertise of the African Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to the extent practicable.”
The Human Rights Council resolution requests to have a representative of the experts issue an oral update and participate in an “enhanced interactive dialogue” at its 31st session (March 2016). The resolution asks also the experts to issue a final written report at its 33th session (September 2016) and to participate in an interactive dialogue during the same session.
