7 INTRODUCTION The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which entered into force on 21 October 1986 was ratified by the Government of Burundi on 28 July 1989. As a result of the socio-political unrest which broke out shortly after this ratification, the latter was only able to submit its Initial Report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at the 27th Ordinary Session held from 27 April to 11 May 2000 in Algiers, Algeria. The present implementation Report was prepared under circumstances which were entirely different from those of the Initial Report. Today Burundi is out of the long period of conflicts which cost thousands of human lives and destroyed lots of infrastructure. It is also currently getting out of the post conflict reconstruction phase to tackle development programmes proper. The first post transition democractic elections were organized in 2005 and the second elections were held at the end of the year 2010. The preparation of this Report is therefore a manifestation of the national authorities’ commitment to the respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the human being. The Report is a combination of all those Reports which should have been submitted in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. It was prepared at a time when Burundi was entering a second phase of power management, stemming from the democratic elections organized in conformity with the post transition Constitution. The contents of this Report are therefore divided into 3 main parts. The first part introduces the physical, social, economic and political situation of the country as well as the normative and institutional human rights framework. The second part throws light on the comments and observations relative to the Initial Report presented by the Government of Burundi. Finally the third part provides information on the different stages of implementation of the contents of each Article of the Charter. The results indicated within the present document outline the considerable progress made in relation to all the obligations expressed in the different Articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and in particular in relation to the socio-security situation experienced by the country for more than a decade.