Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 - Burundi
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Publication Date | 19 July 2017 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 - Burundi, 19 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5981e44b21.html [accessed 24 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Overview: Burundi continued its commitment to addressing terrorism through maintaining a six battalion contribution to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Burundi's land and water borders are porous and, therefore, pose significant border security challenges.
Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Burundi has provisions in its penal code defining forms of terrorism. Sentences for acts of terrorism range from 10 years to life imprisonment if the act results in the death of a person. The Judicial Police are responsible for terrorism investigations. A small counterterrorism unit, formed in 2010, consists of elements of the Burundi National Police, the Burundian National Defense Force, and the Burundi National Intelligence Service. The unit lacks significant capacity to prevent and respond to terrorist acts. Burundi's judicial system was characterized by a dearth of professional personnel and resources, incompetence, corruption, and a significant backlog of cases.
Burundi screens travel documents at official border crossings; however, it does not use biometric screening capabilities, such as fingerprint or retinal scans.
Deterrents to more effective law enforcement and border security included corruption, resource constraints, limited judicial capacity, lack of training, and heavily trafficked, difficult to control borders.
Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Burundi is not a member of a Financial Action Task Force-style regional body; however, it is an observer of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group. While the government has created counterterrorist financing laws, it has yet to commit funding or provide training on the new laws. Therefore, implementation was inconsistent. There were no terrorist finance cases in 2016.
Burundi's anti-money laundering/counterterrorist finance regime is incomplete. It does not include regulatory requirements or supervision of money/value transfer services, precious metal and jewelry dealers, real estate agents, exchange houses, non-profit organizations, the informal financial sector, and money service businesses. Know Your Customer practices are implemented regularly in the formal financial sector, but very few people in the country have access to the formal banking sector. Each local commercial bank operation is recorded within the bank's system and the banks exchange information with their foreign correspondent banks through their compliance officers. Banks are not asked to share this information with the Government of Burundi's financial intelligence unit.
For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm. (Burundi has not been included in the INCSR since the 2014 edition.)
International and Regional Cooperation: Burundi is an inactive member of the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism. Burundi contributed six battalions to AMISOM.
