Burundi genocide

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Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass-killings of Hutu by the Tutsi army, ^[1] and the 1993 killing of Tutsi by the Hutu population that is recognised as a genocide in the final report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented to the United Nations Security Council in 2002.^[2]

Contents 1 Burundian history 2 May to July, 1972 3 1993 4 Rwandan connection 5 References 6 Further reading 7 Footnotes

[edit] Burundian history

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.

[edit] May to July, 1972

On April 27, 1972 a rebellion, 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 "20,000 to 30,000" 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 50,000 to 100,000 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 Party, "Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi", FRODEBU, and its presidential candidate, Melchior 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 leadership, through FRODEBU's structures responded violently to Ndadaye's assassination and it is estimated that possibly as many as 400,000 Tutsi were killed. Trying to bring order back, elements of the Burundian army killed culprit together with innocent hutus who were not part of the killings. Today, the 1993 mass-killing of Tutsi is the only genocide officially acknowledged by the United Nations.^[2]

[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 both sides of the conflict. 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] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

• International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi: Final Report Source Name: United Nations Security Council, S/1996/682; received from Ambassador Thomas Ndikumana, Burundi Ambassador to the United States, Date received: 7 June 2002

[edit] Further reading

• United Nations Committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, Fifty-first session, Summary record of the 1239th meeting . Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, 20 August 1997, Seventh to tenth periodic reports of Burundi (continued) (CERD/C/295/Add.1)
  • Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination : Burundi. 18 September 1997.
• René Lemarchand. "The Burundi Genocide". Century of Genocide. Ed. Samuel Totten et al. New York: Routledge, 2004. 321-337.
• "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)
• "Burundi Genocide", News about Burundi crimes since 1962, by Agnews (2000)

[edit] Footnotes