Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, is seen in Bujumbura in 2015.CARL DE SOUZA/AFP / Getty Images
Pierre Claver Mbonimpa wipes tears from his cheek as they flow down the scar from the bullet wound that nearly killed him two years ago. The leading Burundi human-rights activist may have physically recovered from the assassination attempt in 2015, but he's still emotionally scarred from the personal tragedy that struck in the months following the attack.
As he was recovering in Brussels from the shooting, Mr. Mbonimpa's son and son-in-law were murdered within weeks of each other. They were targeted for their relationship to him.
"I felt powerless because I was in the hospital," Mr. Mbonimpa said in French through a translator, as he pulled a tissue from his pocket to wipe his tears.
Mr. Mbonimpa was transferred to Brussels for medical treatment after he was shot in Burundi's capital of Bujumbura in August, 2015. In October of that year, his son-in-law Pascal Nshirimana was swarmed by gunmen on motorcycles outside his home and shot dead. Less than a month later, his son Welly Nzitonda was found dead after he was arrested by police.
"They asked for his ID and, when they saw that it was my son, they just killed him," Mr. Mbonimpa said.
Burundi, a small country in East Africa, has been spiralling into further political unrest since 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term. The move, which his opponents called unconstitutional, sparked protests. Following a failed coup attempt, Mr. Nkurunziza maintained his grip on power and cracked down on opponents, including Mr. Mbonimpa.
Mr. Mbonimpa is in Ottawa this week meeting with members of Parliament in an effort to raise the profile of the crisis in Burundi that has displaced more than 400,000 people. Last month, United Nations investigators accused Burundi's government of crimes against humanity, including executions and torture, and urged the International Criminal Court to open a case.
Global Affairs Canada said the government fully supports the UN's calls for an investigation. Mr. Mbonimpa called on Canada to provide further support to Burundi, particularly funding for media and civil society to hold the government to account.
"If the media or civil society stop reporting those crimes, I'm afraid the government will have a green light because it will be isolated from the world."
In 2015-16, Canada provided $14.8-million in development assistance to Burundi, which included support for women and girls affected by the crisis as well as Canadian and local civil society groups in the country. It has also provided $3.6-million since 2015 for international human rights monitoring, reporting and investigative efforts, mostly led by the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.
Mr. Mbonimpa's activism started in the 1990s, after he spent two years in prison on trumped-up charges of possessing an illegal weapon. After his release in 1996, the former police officer founded the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons. He was imprisoned again in 2014 for remarks he made on the radio and eventually released.
Less than a year later, Mr. Mbonimpa was on his way home from work when he was shot in the face by a gunman on a motorcycle. He says the shooter, who has since died, was a member of Mr. Nkurunziza's secret service.
He spent four months in a head brace, unable to sleep or eat properly. He only started speaking again eight months ago, but still suffers from a raspy voice caused by the damage from the bullet.
Following the shooting, various embassies stepped up to help get Mr. Mbonimpa's immediate family out of Burundi. He now lives in Belgium with his wife. However, his extended family still lives in his home country.
"Some of them, they hide. They are in fear of saying that they are related to me," he said.
"I became public enemy No. 1 of the country."
Mr. Mbonimpa hasn't returned to Burundi since the shooting, but says he would like to go back when his health improves.
"I was born in Burundi. I grew up in Burundi. I would want to retire and die in Burundi."
With files from Agence France-Presse