Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of protections against (i) torture, (ii) arbitrary arrest, (iii) extra-judicial killings and (iv) enforced disappearances in Burundi and (b) trends in the levels of accountability for human rights violations in that country; and when his Department last assessed the potential merits of targeted sanction designations against individuals in Burundi.

The UK Government welcomes the Government of Burundi's stated commitment to improving the human rights situation and recent steps taken which demonstrate this, including prisoner releases and engagement with some media outlets. However, the UK Government monitors reports of human rights violations and abuses being committed against the political opposition and critical voices. We regularly discuss a range of issues including human rights at a senior level with the Government of Burundi, most recently this week when our non-resident Ambassador to Burundi visited the country. We continue to call on all members of the Government of Burundi to ensure that Burundi develops along a positive trajectory despite the current economic hardship the country is facing.

We do not speculate about future sanctions designations