 |
|
 |
|||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Africa Policy E-JournalBurundi: Crisis Group Report +++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++ Region: Central Africa +++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ International Crisis Group Brussels Office Washington Office The full text of this report, as well as additional information on the International Crisis Group, is available at http://www.intl-crisis-group.org. Burundi Under Siege 28 April, 1998 Lift the sanctions; re-launch the peace process Executive Summary Burundi has spent the most part of the past five years embroiled in a vicious civil war that has so far claimed more than 200,000 lives and triggered massive movements of refugees and displaced persons and which continues to add to instability throughout the Great Lakes region. Since July 1996, the country has been largely cut off from the outside world, following the decision by neighbouring countries in the region to impose harsh economic sanctions in response to the overthrow of Burundi's coalition government by the Tutsi-dominated military. The swift response of regional leaders to the Burundi coup in July 1996 and their show of resolve to force the military government, led by Major Pierre Buyoya, to restore multiparty democracy and enter into all-party talks on the future of the country is undeniably impressive. Meeting within five days of the military's seizure of power, the leaders of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zaire and Ethiopia agreed to impose uniform sanctions on Burundi, issued a list of specific demands that the Burundian government would have to meet for the sanctions to be lifted and gave their full backing to former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere's efforts to mediate a settlement to the crisis. The wider international community, including the United States and key European states, greeted the efforts of regional leaders to impose a solution on Burundi through a combination of economic pressure and negotiations with barely disguised relief. Western governments, still haunted by their failure to do more to prevent the Rwanda genocide of 1994 in which almost a million people lost their lives, lent strong political and financial support to the regional leaders and, specifically, to former president Nyerere as the regional peace-broker. At the time, the speed and unity of the regional response to events in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, seemed to auger well for the future. It became common to hear US and European politicians arguing that the determination of leaders in the Great Lakes region to impose a peace process on Burundi was evidence that Africans were increasingly taking on responsibility for solving their own problems. 20 months on, the situation remains far from resolved. While the swift response of regional leaders to the coup in Burundi undoubtedly had an immediate and positive impact on the political situation inside Burundi - leading within weeks to a lifting of the ban on political parties and the restoration of the country's Parliament - the main objectives of regional and international policy have yet to be achieved. Burundi's military government remains in place; violence continues, albeit at a lower rate than before the coup; and while there is evidence of a limited rapprochement between key parties within Burundi, including between the Government and the Parliament, genuine peace talks have yet to begin. Meanwhile, Nyerere's regional peace process remains at a standstill against a backdrop of mutual recriminations and allegations that the mediator's neutrality has been compromised by his support for punitive sanctions on Burundi. The embargo, originally intended as a regional policy, has evolved into a personal feud between the former Tanzanian president and the president of Uganda on the one hand and Buyoya on the other. As hopes of a breakthrough fade, Burundi's neighbours have become increasingly divided on what measures to take to break the deadlock. The present report, compiled by an ICG field analyst based in Bujumbura, provides an assessment of the current situation in Burundi and the region. In particular it examines the key changes during the 20 months since the 1996 coup. It weighs up the performance of the Buyoya military government in restoring security and opening up dialogue between Burundi's factions and looks in detail at the impact of the economic embargo on the peace process, both within the country and in the region. The report catalogues a number of serious obstacles that reduce the Burundi government's room for manoeuvre and limit the chances of progress towards productive all-party negotiations on the country's future. These include:
The report criticises the refusal of regional leaders not to consider changing tack in the face of mounting evidence that their emphasis on economic sanctions as a means of forcing Burundi's parties into an open, regionally-brokered peace process has failed to deliver the desired results. As the report points out, the sanctions policy has:
Recommendations: The priority for regional leaders and the wider international community must be to help re-launch negotiations between Burundi's opposing factions and to initiate a genuine transition process. To achieve this objective, ICG believes that the economic blockade imposed on Burundi by countries of the region following the 1996 coup must be lifted. At the same time, a number of steps should be taken to create conditions necessary for constructive dialogue. None of the parties to the conflict should be left with any excuse to justify boycotting the talks. Arguments about a regional versus a national approach to dialogue should be put aside once and for all so that attention can shift to the actual agenda to be discussed. In the event the peace process collapses again, the international community will need to consider further measures, including freezing of the overseas assets and restricting travel for the governing elite. Specifically, the report carries the following recommendations: 1. Support the establishment of a transition government In June 1998, the term of the National Assembly expires. In July 1999, the three year transition period declared by Buyoya following the July 1996 coup, comes to an end. The international community should therefore be ready to support the establishment of a transition government tasked with overseeing and contributing to the process of internal dialogue and with taking part in the external, regional peace process. 2. Support the internal process of dialogue within Burundi An internal dialogue between all the parties to Burundi's conflict is an essential component of the wider peace process. Dialogue needs to be strengthened, broadened and deepened. It should be underpinned by measures designed to build the confidence of all factions of society in the peace process. This will take time and require an imaginative approach. Initiatives that might be considered include exchanges between representatives of Burundian society and those of other societies affected by conflict; financing seminars that bring together oppositing groups to explore options for peaceful co-habitation; support for reconciliation projects; the dispatch of multi-ethnic delegations to the countryside to explain the process to local communities and seek their views. 3. Lift the sanctions The negative effects of the economic blockade have come to outweigh any positive effects it may have had. Continuing further with the same policy risks hindering the process of internal dialogue, fuelling extremist elements in Burundi society and contributing to a dangerous destabilisation of the situation. 4. Re-launch the peace process
5. The issue of impunity needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The constant recall of past killings and exchanges of accusations of atrocities is an obstacle to reconciliation and dialogue. In the absence of a functioning International Criminal Court or an Ad Hoc War Crimes Tribunal for Burundi, consideration should be given to the establishment of a Truth Commission based on the South African model or a Research Commission tasked with investigating all massacres since independence. In addition, the international community should be ready to send both financial and technical assistance to help improve the functioning and strengthen the independence of the judiciary. In the short-term, the emphasis should be on sending judicial observers and trainers to help demonstrate the separation of judicial and executive powers. In the longer-term, reform the recruitment and education of judges and lawyers of both communities will be necessary to help re-balance the judiciary and build public trust in the system. 6. Review development assistance programs Development assistance aid has an important role to play in helping to rebuild Burundi, restart economic activity and lay the basis of future, stable development. To avoid the risk that funding might be diverted into military or security force budgets, donors should seek to distribute aid at a local level, through, for example selective, direct investment in micro agricultural projects, infrastructural projects in the more stable provinces, small enterprises, diversification of production, employment creation programs, civil society organisations and independent media projects. 7. Facilitate the repatriation of Burundian refugees in Tanzania Repatriation of Burundian refugees currently sheltering in Tanzania would remove an important source of tension in the relationship between Burundi and Tanzania. A repatriation program has been agreed already by the two countries and the UNHCR. This should be implemented as soon as practicable. Bujumbura, Burundi
Documents previously distributed in the e-journal are
available on the Africa Action website: To be added to or dropped from the e-journal subscription list, write to e-journal@africaaction.org. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the source mentioned in the posting.
|
|
Africa Policy E-Journal
