Burundi genocide
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been three events labelled as genocide in the country. The 1972 mass-killings of Hutu by the Tutsi army qualifies the definition of genocide. Similarly, the 1993 killing of Hutu by the Tutsi army can also be argued to qualify the definition (particularly due to the fact that it was again perpetrated by state actors). The 1993 killing of Tutsi civilians by Hutu insurgents more closely constitutes an act of mass-killing[citation needed] as it was sporadic, and predominantly perpetrated by civilians.
Sadly, of these three events, it is only the last that has been formally recognized as an act of genocide by the Burundian government--an unfortunate irony given the fact that the other two instances of genocide have been wiped from the official record.
Contents |
[edit] Burundian History (as related to the genocides)
The demographics of Burundi through the 1960s and 1970s was roughly 80 percent Hutu, dominated by a small Tutsi minority. Burundi gained its independence in 1962, and in May 1965, the first post-independence elections were held. Not surprisingly (on account of the population breakdown), the Hutu candidates scored a landslide victory, capturing 23 seats out of a total 33. Instead of a Hutu prime minister being appointed, the king appointed one of his Tutsi friends. On 18 October 1965, Hutus, angry with the king, attempted a coup. The king fled the country, never to return, but the coup ultimately failed. The Tutsi-controlled army arrested and executed many leading Hutu civilian and military personalities, and continued to rule the country for the next 21 years.
[edit] May to July, 1972
On 29 April 1972 an insurrection, led by some Hutu members of the gendarmerie, broke out in the lakeside towns of Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac. Countless atrocities were reported by eyewitnesses, and the armed Hutu insurgents proceeded to kill every Tutsi and Hutu moderate in sight. It is estimated that during this initial Hutu outbreak, anywhere from "2,000 to 3,000" people were killed. President Michel Micombero (Tutsi) proclaimed martial law and systematically proceeded to slaughter Hutus en masse. The initial phases of the genocide were clearly orchestrated, with lists of targets including the Hutu educated, the elite, and the militarily trained. Once this had been completed, the Tutsi-controlled army moved onto the larger civilian populations. The Tutsi-controlled government authorities originally estimated that roughly 15,000 had been killed while Hutu opponents claimed that the number was actually far closer to 300,000. Today, conservative estimates hover in between these two figures, at 100,000 to 150,000 killed in a period of just over 3 months. Over 500,000 are estimated to have fled the genocide into Zaire, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
[edit] 1993
In 1993, the Hutu Front des Démocrates du Burundi and its presidential candidate, Ndadaye, won the election forming the first Hutu government in Burundi. On 21 October 1993, President Ndadaye was assassinated throwing the country into a period of civil strife. The Hutu community responded violently to Ndadaye's assassination and it is estimated that possibly as many as 25,000 Tutsi were killed. Not surprisingly, the Burundian army (still a Tutsi institution) responded by killing at least as many Hutu civilians.
Today, the 1993 mass-killing of Tutsi is the only genocide officially acknowledged by the government. There is no official recognition of the Hutu victims of 1993, nor is there any recognition for the genocide of 1972. In effect, the genocide has been wiped from the official record, and forgotten by the international community in light of larger-scale genocides such as that of Rwanda.
[edit] Rwandan Connection
The genocide of 1972 left a permanent mark in the collective memory of the Hutu population, both in Burundi and in neighbouring countries. Tens of thousands of Hutu civilians fled the country during the violence into their northern neighbor, Rwanda. The increased tensions in Burundi and Rwanda sparked episodes of civil and cross-border violence in Burundi which inevitably resulted in more large-scale killings by the Burundian army. These episodes further radicalized elements of the Hutu population in Rwanda who also faced pressure from a militant Tutsi opposition known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front. In 1994, a Hutu-led genocide was perpetrated in Rwanda which, along with the resulting civil war, claimed the lives of between 700,000 and 1,000,000 people.
[edit] Sources
- René Lemarchand. "The Burundi Genocide". Century of Genocide. Ed. Samuel Totten et al. New York: Routledge, 2004. 321-337.
[edit] External links
- "Selective Genocide in Burundi", Report on the 1972 genocide by René Lemarchand and David Martin (1974)
- "Burundi Since the Genocide", Report tracing the consequences of the 1972 genocide, by Reginald Kay (1987)
