A/HRC/RES/57/22 Welcoming the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi submitted to the Human Rights Council at its present session,1 Noting with appreciation the progress made with regard to regional and international participation, the fight against trafficking in persons and the repatriation of Burundian refugees, while stressing the importance of guaranteeing security and social integration to returnees as stated by the Special Rapporteur in his previous report,2 and noting also the commitments made towards realizing further improvements in the areas of human rights, good governance and the rule of law, Expressing deep concern about human rights violations and abuses in Burundi, and regretting the lack of cooperation of the Government of Burundi with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur, while also regretting its lack of constructive cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, including the lack of progress in reopening its country office, 1. Strongly condemns all human rights violations and abuses committed in Burundi, including those involving extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrest and detention, acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and sexual and gender-based violence, and calls for an immediate end to these violations and abuses and for the full respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms; 2. Urges the Government of Burundi to guarantee the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association, and deplores the reduced space for civil society, citizen activism, political participation and a free and fair judiciary, encourages the Government to consolidate the progress made in the field of the media, and stresses the need for the Government to provide a safe and enabling environment for civil society, human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and other media workers, including women working in these professions, to carry out their work independently, without intimidation or undue interference, and to release all those who are still in detention for doing their work in defence of human rights; 3. Condemns the widespread impunity for all human rights violations and abuses, and urges the Government of Burundi to hold all perpetrators, regardless of their affiliation or status, including members of defence and security forces and of the ruling party’s youth league, the Imbonerakure, accountable for their actions, and to ensure that victims can seek justice and legal redress, and encourages the Government to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and to honour its legal obligation to cooperate fully with the Court with regard to its ongoing investigation; 4. Calls upon the Government of Burundi to create the conditions necessary for the holding of inclusive, transparent and credible parliamentary elections in 2025, in accordance with its international obligations and commitments; 5. Also calls upon the Government of Burundi to guarantee the full independence of the judiciary; 6. Further calls upon the Government of Burundi to provide the National Independent Human Rights Commission with all the means necessary to perform its function of promoting and protecting human rights in line with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), and to ensure its independence; 7. Calls upon the Government of Burundi to implement fully the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi and the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi in their reports, as well as those accepted in the context of the universal periodic review, and to cooperate fully with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and relevant treaty bodies; 1 2 2 A/HRC/57/58. A/HRC/54/56.