Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza on Monday pardoned 3,000 convicts on the occasion of the country’s independence anniversary.

“We seize the opportunity of the celebration of Burundi‟s 52nd anniversary to pardon 3,000 inmates,” said the president in a message to the nation.

The amnesty does not include inmates who had been pardoned before but were sent back to prison for new offenses.

Burundian Supreme Court Secretary-General Agnes Bangiricenge said at least 8,085 people are currently detained in various prisons throughout the country.

Burundi won independence from Belgium on July 1, 1962. Avocats Sans Frontières France condemns impunity, calls for a united stance against torture as an institutional tool.