Burundi in 1996
Burundi in 1996
Burundi is a landlocked republic of central Africa. Area: 27,816 sq km (10,740 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 5,943,000. Cap.: Bujumbura. Monetary unit: Burundi franc, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a free rate of FBu 220.46 to U.S. $1 (FBu 347.29 = £ 1 sterling). Presidents in 1996, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya and, from July 25, Pierre Buyoya; prime ministers, Antoine Nduwayo and, from July 31, Pascal-Firmin Ndimira.
During the last months of 1995, increasing numbers of signs were pointing to a new wave of ethnic violence in Burundi. In his review of 1995, Pres. Sylvestre Ntibantunganya warned that the fanaticism of both Hutu and Tutsi could lead to the disintegration of the nation. In February 1996 the UN reported that civil war was taking place in many parts of Burundi and recommended that the world take action rather than wait for genocide to occur. Prime Minister Antoine Nduwayo, however, rejected suggestions for intervention. In April both the United States and the European Union suspended their aid to Burundi on reports that the government lacked the will to end the violence.
On April 26, after an estimated 500 people had already been killed during the month, 235 villagers were killed in Buhoro in clashes between government forces and rebel Hutu. Fears of massacres on the same scale as earlier had been seen in Rwanda grew through May, and at the end of the month, France suspended military cooperation with the government. On June 25 a regional summit was held at Arusha, Tanz., between Burundi and Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda to discuss the deteriorating situation, and Burundi reluctantly accepted the principle of intervention. Subsequently, however, Nduwayo’s Unity for National Progress party condemned the agreement as a betrayal, and both the president and prime minister were accused of treason. In July the prime minister reversed his earlier stand and said he was opposed to an international peacekeeping force.
A massacre of more than 300 Tutsi by militant Hutu at Bugendena in mid-July provided the spark that led to a coup. When the president arrived at a memorial service for the victims, angry demonstrators forced him to withdraw (he took refuge in the U.S. embassy), and on July 25 the military seized power and installed Pierre Buyoya as president. Buyoya said, "We have done this [the coup] to avoid genocide. We want to restore peace and protect the population." He ruled out intervention from outside. Reacting to the coup, the leaders of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zaire imposed sanctions on Burundi. By mid-September the Hutu rebels were claiming that 10,000 people had been killed by the army since the coup, and they called upon the country’s neighbours to maintain their embargo.
by: Guy Arnold