Burundi

Burundi is not Rwanda. However, this pair of small, verdant, hilly and overpopulated central African countries are affected by the same dynamics that animated the most significant event in the region’s history – the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Burundi claimed independence in 1962 from Belgian colonial rule. A constitutional monarchy existed until 1966 until it was removed from power and replaced by what was essentially a military regime. In the early 1970s perceived Tutsi political dominance was mirrored by Hutu violence against the civilian population – which was in turn violently suppressed by Tutsi controlled security forces of the military regime. In this period of conflict a total of around 100,000 people from both sides are estimated to have been killed.

In 1976, a second coup occurred led by Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza. A new constitution was implemented which kept Burundi as a one-party state. Bagaza’s oppressive regime was however also removed in a coup by Major Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, who suspended the constitution, dissolved political parties, and returned the country to military rule. Buyoya called for a rapprochement between Hutu and Tutsi groups, but presided over a largely Tutsi government.

A new constitution which stipulated non-ethnic government was approved in 1992, and democratic elections were held in 1993 which saw the election of Hutu moderate and intellectual Melchior Ndadaye. Ndadaye attempted to build an ethnically balanced government, however he was assassinated by Tutsi army officers in 1993 and his successor - Cyprien Ntaryamira – was also killed along with Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana when the plane they were travelling in was shot down in 1993 – an event that sparked the Rwandan genocide.

Following this event, various tit-for-tat reprisal killings sparked the decade long Burundian civil war. This conflict only formally ended in 2005 with the swearing in of President Pierre Nkurunziza. The estimated death toll stands at 300,000 and was the product of a political situation massively destabilised by the neighbouring genocide in Rwanda, and the resulting influx of hundreds of thousands of refuges, and armed forces of both Hutu and Tutsi.

President Nkurunziza has presided over a process of post-conflict reconstruction. The remaining rebel group The Forces for National Liberation sought immunity suggested war crimes during the conflict and a role in the political settlement. The Burundian constitution now ensures that 60% of representatives are Hutu, 40% Tutsi and 30% are women.

Recommended readings (available at RAS bookstore)

Peter Uvin - Life After Violence: A People's Story of Burundi

Rene Lemarchand - Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide

Rene Lemarchand - The dynamics of violence in central Africa

Key facts

Population	9,511,330
Demographic Makeup	Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%
Languages	Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)
Life Expectancy	57.8 years
Infant Mortality	64.86 deaths/1,000 live births
Capital City	Bujumbura
Political system	presidential representative democratic republic
Head of State	Pierre Nkurunziza
GDP per Capita	$300
GDP Composition by Sector	agriculture: 33.4% industry: 20.7% services: 45.9%