Among incidents that appeared to be politically motivated, we further focused our research based on the seriousness of the abuse and the likelihood that it would contribute to cycles of violence, as well as our ability to verify the facts based on multiple sources. A Human Rights Watch researcher carried out in-depth field research in Bujumbura, Bujumbura Rurale, Ngozi, and Karusi in order to document politically-motivated murders. Human Rights Watch met with detainees in Bujumbura, Cibitoke, Gitega, Makamba, and Ngozi who were victims of beatings, and in all cases either personally documented scars on their bodies or received collaborating information from BINUB or police officials.