Pierre Claver Mbonimpa

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa is a Burundian human rights activist. In August 2001, he founded the Association Burundaise pour la Protection des Droits Humains et des Personnes Détenues (APRODH) — the Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detainees.

He began his career as a teacher, later working as a civil servant at the Ministry of Economy and Finance before joining the air and customs police. While serving there, he was wrongfully accused and arrested for possessing an illegal firearm. From 1994 to 1996, he was imprisoned in Mpimba Central Prison, where he endured frequent beatings and torture. That harrowing experience inspired him to create APRODH.

Mbonimpa has faced numerous death threats, and on 3 August 2015, he was shot in Bujumbura. Days later, he was flown to Belgium for urgent medical treatment.

Despite such ordeals, Mbonimpa has continued to speak out against human rights violations in Burundi, including the government’s violent repression of political opposition and civil society. He remains a prominent advocate for democracy and human rights in Burundi, even as threats to his life persist. In recognition of his work, he has received several international honours, including the African Union Human Rights Prize in 2016. Two years later, in 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). On that occasion, he remarked that defending human rights is a noble calling, but one fraught with danger.

“I survived an assassination attempt, and people are still being killed, but I must not let myself be discouraged. I must continue to speak out and tell the international community what is happening in my country, so that it can help us find a solution.”

There is perhaps no individual who better embodies Burundi’s struggle for human rights than Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, born 75 years ago in the small East African nation.

When Burundi descended into civil war in 1993 — following the assassination of President Cyprien Ntaryamira, in a conflict that claimed an estimated 300,000 lives — Mbonimpa was among the first to suffer. As a police officer and former driver for the murdered president, he was betrayed and arrested, spending the next two years behind bars.

In prison, he witnessed the appalling conditions endured by detainees — many unjustly imprisoned or held for long periods without trial. Upon his release in 1996, he founded the Association for Detained Persons (ABDP) to monitor prison welfare and provide legal aid to inmates. The initiative’s success encouraged him to extend his work to broader human rights issues. However, as ABDP’s legal mandate was limited to prisoners’ rights, he established APRODH in 2001 to advocate more widely.

With support from Amnesty International, APRODH opened offices across several Burundian provinces and began educating local communities about civic rights and responsibilities. Police officers received training on the lawful treatment of detainees, and where prisoners could not afford legal representation, the organisation covered their costs.

Initially, APRODH maintained cordial relations with President Pierre Nkurunziza’s government — but this cooperation was short-lived. As Nkurunziza’s second and final constitutional term neared its end, he sought a controversial third term and personally approached Mbonimpa for his endorsement. Mbonimpa refused outright.

In 2014, he publicly criticised, during a radio interview, the government’s recruitment and training of the Imbonerakure — a youth paramilitary group — in the run-up to the following year’s elections.

He was immediately arrested, but after three months in detention, was released thanks to mounting international pressure. The following year, on 3 August 2015, Mbonimpa was shot and gravely wounded. The bullets shattered his jaw, vocal cords, and spine. He was airlifted to Belgium for specialised medical treatment, where he spent eight months unable to eat and nearly two years unable to speak.

As if his ordeal were not enough, his son and son-in-law were both murdered during that period — killings widely believed to have been carried out by state agents. Mbonimpa himself was placed under 24-hour protection by Belgian security services while hospitalised. In 2016, APRODH was banned in Burundi, and Mbonimpa relocated his family to Belgium, where he continues to live today.

Despite everything, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa remains undaunted. He continues to follow developments in Burundi closely and advocates internationally for human rights reforms in his homeland.

“I was lucky enough to recover my voice — literally. But there are many who have none. Someone must speak for them.”

Sources: VUB YouTube-kanaal, Defend Defenders