Pierre Claver Mbonimpa
Since my release from prison I chose to defend the rights of Human beings and especially the rights of prisoners
Pierre Claver Mbonimpa is the president of Association Burundaise pour la Promotion des Droits Humains et des Personnes Détenues – APRODH (Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Prisoners), one of the most active human rights organisations in Burundi. For several years, the human rights defender has exposed acts of torture and poor living conditions in Burundi's prisons, and advocated against extra-judicial killings in the country. Pierre Claver Mbonimpa's work has been recognised internationally through the award of a number of prizes, including the 2007 Martin Ennals Award and the 2011 Henry Dunant Award.
As a result of the refusal of President Pierre Nkurunziza to yield power and instead move to amend the Constitution and carry forth with elections that many saw as fraudulent, Burundi entered into a period of political violence and civil unrest in 2015. Though it had had a vibrant civil society since the mass violence of the 1990s, political and ethnic forces threatened to tear the country apart yet again. Many human rights defenders found themselves targeted and were forced to leave the country, along with tens of thousands of citizens fearing the worst.
