Central African crisis grows (Editorial)

By Jonathan Lorie

13 June, 2014

The arrest in Belgium last month of a fugitive political leader from Burundi highlights a looming crisis in this central African country, where a grim history of ethnic massacres mirrors its neighbour Rwanda. Eight years on from a Hutu-Tutsi civil war that left 300,000 dead, Burundi faces a political crisis that is already spilling into violence – and more may be on the way as it gears up for elections in 2015.

Warning signs have been appearing all year: imprisonment of opposition activists, violent clashes in the capital, an attack on an army base by armed militiamen, and an attempt to change the constitution so that an outgoing president can stand again. The fragile power-sharing deal between Hutus and Tutsis, which ended the 12-year war, is felt to be under strain. Crucially, a leaked United Nations cable in April suggested that weapons are being distributed to the government’s youth wing in the bush.

The leak prompted outrage from the Hutu-led government, and the expulsion of the security chief of the UN mission, BNUB. The cable allegedly reported that weapons and training are being given to members of the increasingly militant Imbonerakure youth wing, which may number 50,000-100,000 people. Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza went on state radio to demand the UN provide evidence or issue a retraction.

 

His government was already keen to terminate the UN mission in Burundi, since its presence was seen as a marker of instability. Despite requests to end it by mid-summer, the UN Security Council voted in February to extend the term of mission to December, a rebuff to national wishes. In April, the Security Council called on the government and all parties to address impunity, observe due process and condemn acts of incitement to hatred.

Bazombanza also acknowledged the significance of the crisis. “I can assure you”, he broadcast in an attempt to reassured or violence.

Last month, Samantha Power, the United States Ambassador to the UN, visited Burundi, the most senior US leader eve the public, “that any action to bring about war in general, and to commit genocide in particular, cannot be tolerated.”. She said: “If you take a political crisis on the one hand and combine it with armaments on the other, those are precisely the ingredients for the kind of violence Burundi has managed to avoid now for a good few years, and it would be terribly tragic after all the progress that Burundi has made if it slipped into a large-scale political crisis, and certainly of course if it descended into violence.”

Violence has been largely averted since the Arusha Accords of 2000, which paved the way for a peace agreement in 2006. The Accords enshrined a quota system in which official positions would be shared between majority Hutus and minority Tutsis and Batwas. In line with this, the present Hutu-led government has included Tutsi elements in a coalition. The previous Vice President, Bernard Busokoza, came from the main Tutsi party, Uprona. But in February Busokoza was sacked in a surprise move by President Pierre Nkurunziza. Three fellow Uprona ministers quit the coalition in protest. A subsequent Uprona rally was broken up by riot police firing teargas, and Uprona leaders were arrested. Commentators remarked that the delicate balance between rival groups had been upset.

Behind the political turmoil lies the question of who will be the next President. Nkurunziza’s second term of office ends next year, and the constitution forbids a third. Earlier this year, he introduced a bill in parliament to revise the constitution which would allow him to stand again in 2015. But in a cliff-hanger vote in March, the bill was defeated by a single vote – despite abstentions from opposition MPs. How this will play out remains uncertain, with initial suggestions of a popular referendum now discarded.

Meanwhile, tensions flared into violence. In central Bujumbura, clashes between police and demonstrators in the capital Bujumbura left 20 activists and five policemen injured. Demonstrators took refuge in the headquarters building of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), with two policemen as hostages, prompting police to storm the building. Subsequently 71 MSD activists were arrested and charged with rebellion and participation in an armed insurrection.

Twenty-one of them were sentenced to life imprisonment. Their party leader, Alexis Sinduhije, fled the country and was detained at Brussels airport on May 1 as he got off a flight from Chad. His lawyer claimed the detention was due to an “excess of zeal” by a Belgian official, and Sinduhije has been released.

But unrest is not restricted to politicians and the capital. Two months ago, two army bases in the bush north of Bujumbura were attacked by armed fighters. The rebel National Liberation Forces (FNL) claimed responsibility and alleged they had killed 12 soldiers in an hour’s combat. The same group, a dissident Hutu group, has claimed several similar attacks this year.

Out in the countryside, especially in the south-western provinces of Bururi and Makamba, grassroots tensions are increased by the issue of land. An official Commission On Land is struggling to resolve cases of land ownership, particularly claims from Hutus who fled the previous civil war in 1972. Returning to their villages more recently, they find their property long since settled by others, sometimes Tutsi, sometimes bought in good faith after the event. In a society where 90 per cent of the population rely on subsistence farming, this is a key issue.

To monitor and warn of developments across this volatile country, a coalition of local peace activists has launched a grassroots early warning network that covers the entire country. Thirty organisations have so far joined, and their INAMA network aims to be able to act as well as warn when trouble starts. INAMA stands for “INitiative AMatora Atekanye”, translated as “Initiative for Peaceful Elections”. INAMA also means meeting or dialogue in Kirundi. “This network of local peacebuilders taps into the existing local capacity to monitor tensions and maintain a presence that the outside world cannot”, says Tom Gilhespy from British charity Peace Direct, which funds the network. “In a complex and volatile situation, this local initiative will be able to monitor and assess tensions and take action quickly. In 2015, this network will be working to monitor and prevent election-related violence.”

It’s lucky that the locals are watching the situation themselves. In 2012, the British Government removed Burundi from its priority list of countries for bilateral aid and ended its funding – despite the fact that Burundi ranks 166th out of 169 countries in the UN’s human development index. At the time, the International Development Select Committee protested that this could increase instability and argued for an increase in assistance from the United Kingdom. It also warned: “There is a regional dimension to the conflicts in the Great Lakes area and Burundi is particularly fragile.”

Jonathan Lorie is head of communications at Peace Direct, a British NGO supporting local peacebuilders in Burundi and other conflict areas worldwide: www.peacedirect.org

Featured Image: Map of Burundi (World Atlas)

 

 


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