3 May 2012 – Burundi is making progress in improving it human rights record, but impunity remains a challenge, a senior United Nations official said, stressing that the envisaged establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission will be a real test of country’s commitment to upholding human rights.
“A credible and independent [Truth and Reconciliation] Commission that meets international standards and ensures broad participation and ownership by all segments of the society, with commissioners selected in an open and transparent manner, will help to build people’s trust in mechanisms of transitional justice,” the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, said in a press release issued at the end of his 30 April-2 May visit to the African country.