Burundi. (Areas of Conflict).Burundi has been the scene of ethnic violence since it became independent from Belgium in 1962. Despite being the minority, Tutsis have ruled the nation of six million for all but a few months since independence. Suspicions between Tutsis and the majority Hutus run deep. In 1988, 20,000 or more Hutus were massacred by the military following an uprising in northern Burundi. In 1993, a Hutu, Melchior Ndadaye Melchior Ndadaye (March 28, 1953 РOctober 21, 1993) was a Burundian intellectual and politician. He was the first democratically elected and first Hutu president of Burundi after winning the landmark 1993 election. , and his Front for Democracy in Burundi The Front for Democracy in Burundi (French: Front pour la D̩mocratie au Burundi, FRODEBU) is a progressive political party in Burundi. It was formed by followers of Melchior Ndadaye from the disbanded Burundi Workers' Party in 1986. (FRODEBU FRODEBU Front for Democracy in Burundi ) party won Burundi's first democratic elections. Shortly after, Ndadaye was murdered, allegedly by Tutsi soldiers. In 1994, a coalition government took power, giving a voice in government to both Hutus and Tutsis. But, hopes for long-term peace were dashed in 1996; a military coup installed former president Major Pierre Buyoya Major Pierre Buyoya (born 24 November 1949) is a Burundi politician who has ruled Burundi twice, from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2003. In September of 1987, Buyoya led a military coup against the Second Republic of Burundi, led by Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, and installed as Burundi's leader. He suspended parliament and banned political parties. President Buyoya holds power because he controls the Tutsi-dominated military. The judicial system remains under the control of the Tutsi minority, and most citizens consider it biased against Hutus. Meanwhile, several Hutu rebel groups have been operating from bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The humanitarian situation in Burundi remained grim in the late 1990s, with refugees fleeing the fighting between rebels and government forces. More than 300,000 refugees from Burundi crossed into Tanzania and an estimated 800,000 people were displaced displaced see displacement. within Burundi itself. The total death toll in the conflict since 1993 had topped 200,000 by the end of 2001. In August 2000, former South African President Nelson Mandela Noun 1. Nelson Mandela - South African statesman who was released from prison to become the nation's first democratically elected president in 1994 (born in 1918) Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela proposed a draft peace agreement, known as the Arusha Accord. Nineteen different groups took part in peace talks, and 13 of these signed off on the deal. In November 2001, a transitional government was installed under the leadership of Paul Buyoya. This government is supposed to oversee a ceasefire and a power-sharing agreement. But, with some of the rebels vowing to keep fighting the Arusha Accord looks very shaky. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Websites Search for Common Ground - http://www.sfcg.org/ locations.cfm?locus=Burundi Draft Paper on Dictatorship dictatorship Form of government in which one person or an oligarchy possesses absolute power without effective constitutional checks. With constitutional democracy, it is one of the two chief forms of government in use today. in Rwanda and Burundi - http://faculty.vassar.edu/~tilongma/ emoryconference.html |
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