Burundi
Burundi to probe 40 years of ethnic killings

Misanet.com / IPS, 9 November - Burundi's new transitional government, which aims at ending eight years of civil war, plans to investigate and punish 40 years of ethnic killings between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi. But the process of justice and reconciliation promises to be long and complicated.

Tutsi and Hutu do not trust each other after 35 years of mass slaughter. To end the cycle of violence, those guilty of ethnic cleansing must be seen to be punished.

Burundi's new transitional government is committed to doing this. The power-sharing government was installed on 1 November, in accordance with a peace plan signed in the northern Tanzanian resort town of Arusha last August.

The peace accord also provides for a national truth and reconciliation commission and a United Nations international tribunal, along the lines of that of neighbouring Rwanda.

The 17 parties now in government will be better able to work together once they face up to the crimes of the past. "They need to know who are the main actors who created the disasters of 1972? Who are the main actors who created the two disasters of 1993?" says Jan van Eck, an analyst at South Africa's University of Pretoria.

- Unless that is resolved, the distrust continues and therefore it is urgent that the issue of justice is addressed, hw says. "If this transitional government has to continue for three years without the issue being dealt with, it will be more difficult for them to develop a really co-operative spirit of trust."

In 1972, more than 100,000 people were killed, when the Tutsi-dominated army put down a Hutu uprising. This wiped out a generation of educated Hutu and sealed Tutsi control of Burundi's government and army.

Some 50,000 people died in 1993, after the army murdered Burundi's first elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye. In revenge for his death, Hutu politicians orchestrated massacres of Tutsi. This led the army to carry out its own reprisal killings.

Burundi's new government has six months to set up the truth and reconciliation commission.

But Louis Marie Nindorera of the Burundian human rights group, Iteka (which means dignity in the Kirundi language) believes that is too soon. The government has not yet negotiated a cease-fire with the two main Hutu rebel groups. And fighting has intensified since the inauguration of the new government.

- To have this national commission for truth and reconciliation really working with effectiveness we have to reach a cease-fire first, says Nindorera. "It would be meaningless to try to set up this commission without any cease-fire. That's impossible and has never been seen anywhere else." 

He says people will be too fearful, thinking: "How am I going to act as a witness when the people who killed are still killing? The people that killed are still in charge. I can't know what will happen tomorrow."

Witnesses would need guarantees of protection that they do not currently have. Even after a cease-fire, Nindorera says it is vital to create an atmosphere of trust so that the truth and reconciliation commission does not become a tool for propaganda and revenge.

He believes Burundi's new private radio stations have a key role to play in pushing Burundi's politicians to focus on nation-building rather than political in-fighting.

- We must expect more from the civil society than from the government itself. We have to force them to behave better, Nindorea says. "And that's a big task. One thing that is different from the situation we have had in this past is the radios. We now have seven radio stations. We never have had more than two before," he explains.

- That's a very huge potential for peace, he says. "Here we don't have newspapers. People listen much more to radios. And that's a great opportunity for people to take advantage on the wrong doers and the hard-liners."

He believes the radio stations can push both government and ordinary people to move forward and think about new topics and about solving their problems.

One such force for peace is the independent radio production house, Studio Ijambo. Ijambo means wise words in the Kirundi language. The studio promotes dialogue among ordinary people as a tool for peace and reconciliation.

Aloys Niyoyita, a journalist and producer at Studio Ijambo, describes one of their programmes, Heroes. He says it aims to break down the negative stereotypes that Burundi's Hutus and Tutsis have about each other.

- What is does is to show that it's not true. Maybe a Hutu did this, but not all Hutus. Or maybe a Tutsi did this, but not all Tutsis. We take the examples from Hutu, from Tutis, who did it the other way around. 

- Let's say in a district where you had Hutus making the majority and where Tutsi were killed during the ethnic cleansing or vice versa. We know there is a Tutsi or a Hutu who saved someone from the other ethnic group. We hand him the microphone and he tells the story. 

- I particularly like this programme because it is showing that within Hutu or Tutsi there are some people who are models and on whom we can count for a better future, he says.

While ordinary Burundians are desperate for peace, everything hinges on winning a cease-fire from the rebels. 

Last week, chief mediator Nelson Mandela - former South African President - announced the rebels have agreed to enter into negotiations with the government. South African Vice-President Jacob Zuma and Gabonese President Omar Bongo have been appointed as mediators.

By Katy Salmon, IPS

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