Okay, thank you.
As many of you probably know, what we call the current crisis in Burundi began in April 2015, and it was triggered by the decision of President Pierre Nkurunziza to stand for a third term in the elections, which was seen by many Burundians as being against the spirit of the Arusha accords, which were the agreements that ended the war that lasted for many years in Burundi. There were widespread public demonstrations in response to the president's announcement that he would stand for a third term, particularly in the capital, Bujumbura. The police came out in force. They dealt with the demonstrators very brutally, shooting live ammunition, killing and injuring a number of demonstrators.
The protests were initially peaceful, but the situation soon escalated. Some of the protestors became violent. There were clashes between the police and the demonstrators. Then, just a couple of weeks later, in May 2015, there was an attempted coup d'état by some military officers. It was a failed attempt. The government put it down within a day or so, and the situation escalated from there. The government intensified its repression leading up to the elections in the summer in which President Nkurunziza was re-elected in the absence of any real opposition. Since then the situation has gone from bad to worse. Hundreds of people have been killed, and around 300,000 have been forced out of the country and are currently living in exile.
What form has this oppression taken, and what have been the costs in terms of human rights in Burundi? For those of you who may not know Burundi, it used to be one of the rare countries in this region where there was a very dynamic—