The story · written by gpt-6,
In Burundi, court supervision was meant to help prevent repeat drug offences, but Mainline’s country briefing reported that it was rarely put into practice. People who used drugs faced arrest and stigma while support groups worked with little money. The briefing drew attention to the gap between assistance written into the law and services people could actually reach.
A criminal sentence could include assistance
The requirement dated back to the 2009 criminal-code revision and continued in the 2017 code. Illicit possession or consumption carried one to five years in prison, a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 Burundian francs, or both.
Judges also had to impose supervision for consumption offences. Under the code, that could involve monitoring, assistance, training or treatment following medical assessment. The same rules backed those obligations with further imprisonment if ordered care or training was refused.
Services struggled to make supervision work
Mainline’s interviews described a shortage of institutional capacity, staff and funding. People seeking help also encountered stigma and discrimination, while fear of arrest discouraged contact with services.
The briefing described organisations whose work could itself be regarded as encouraging drug use. That placed practical obstacles in the way of outreach and support, even as the criminal law required judges to order assistance for people convicted of consumption.
These accounts concerned people who used drugs across several substances. Cannabis formed part of the country’s drug market and of the drug-use histories discussed in the briefing.
People who used drugs organised their own response
BAPUD, an association of people who use drugs, sought to connect members with services and bring their experiences to decision makers. Mainline described a small budget, donated office equipment and partnerships with other organisations as the basis of that work.
The briefing recorded a 2020 partnership with ANSS, an organisation supporting people living with HIV, for outreach, care and training. It also described BAPUD’s meetings with police commissioners and awareness activities for parliamentarians.
The demand was for help people could reach
Mainline brought these experiences together in a briefing containing updates through 2025. Its account showed why the availability of a sentence involving assistance could coexist with serious difficulties obtaining care.
In Burundi, BAPUD and its partners continued to press for services and a stronger voice for the people living under those penalties.[1][2][3]
Listed for context. No score change is recorded for Burundi here.
References
- Mainline — Burundi country briefingContext, Policies, Peer Involvement, Human Rights and Prison sections; interviews are distinct from studies summarised in the briefing; document includes mid-2025 updates and older materialarchived
- Burundi Official Bulletin — criminal code 2017Articles 78–81 and 505–513, particularly treatment orders under Article 79 and compulsory supervision under Article 513archived
- Burundi — criminal code 2009, reproduced by BurundinetArticles 78–81 and 489–497; numbering used in the Mainline briefingarchived
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read.