Burundi - The Scoop

It was much easier when only Twa pygmies lived in the virgin forests. The invasion of Hutus and then Tutsis would make Hitler take notes and force Darwin to rethink his theory. The human species in Burundi should be separated into the quick and the dead. This majority agrarian Hutu nation has been ruled by the minority Tutsis since independence from Belgium in 1962. More than 180,000 people (many say more than 200,000) have died in Burundi since 1993 in civil wars between Tutsis, who control the 18,000-20,000-man-strong military, and majority Hutus-and a million more made refugees. (According to some estimates, some half a million people are reported to have been killed-mostly Tutsis-in 1994 alone.) Burundi's president, Pierre Buyoya, has been struggling to maintain peace since he was chosen by the military in July 1996 to step back into office after successive Hutu-controlled governments-the last one led by Hutu president Sylvestre Ntibantunganya-failed to restore order in this carnival of massacres. Buyoya first seized power in a 1986 coup and led Burundi to free elections in 1993. Hutu Melchior Ndadaye was elected president but assassinated by Tutsi paratroopers four months later. Then the carnage began.

As part of Buyoya's security plan and in a move reminiscent of South Vietnam's "Strategic Hamlet" program of the 1960s, more than 600,000 people-Hutus and minority Tutsis-have been rounded up by the government and placed in some 200 camps dotting the countryside, to the outrage of the United States and the subdued disapproval of the United Nations. The Hutus, encamped by force, live a more cramped existence than their fellow Tutsis, who mostly come to the camps by free will in fear of Hutu rebel attacks. For their part, the Hutu rebels that formed the army of the Ndadaye government (and the ex-armed forces of Rwanda and Zaire) are returning to Burundi from their camps and bases in Congo and Tanzania for their revenge. Buyoya is in no mood for compromise, though. He hasn't committed himself to new elections nor one day sharing power with the rebels. But Major Buyoya proposed in June 1999 the setting up of a transitional government to run the affairs of state for the next ten years, during which the head of state will be assisted by two vice presidents-one each from the two major ethnic camps, Hutus and Tutsis. Meanwhile, Buyoya's been busy beefing up his 20,000-man army for more bloodshed.

The good news is that at the 1999 peace talks in Arusha, Burundi's 18 warring political parties have decided to consolidate into only 3. The bad news? They consolidated into the government, the Tutsis and the Hutus. Square one. Again.

Death Wish Democracy

Since October 1993-when Burundi's first elected president, Melchior Ndadaye was assassinated-out of the 81 members of the 1993 parliament, 23 have been murdered. While many in Burundi want democracy, it seems only fools should have any dreams of running it.