August 28 marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Arusha Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi. 20 years already seems so long ago, yet it is what brought peace to Burundi, even if the regime of the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces de défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD) is trying to erase it for good.
Signed on August 28, 2000 in Arusha, Tanzania, in an attempt to put an end to four decades of repeated wars, the Arusha Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi calmed the demons that had bloodied Burundi for decades. The agreement was based on solid foundations that would provide a positive impetus for the advent of a new, stable political order. In particular, one of the aims of the agreement was to combat impunity and guarantee consensual decision-making, while ensuring a certain balance within the defense and security forces. In so doing, it was intended to soothe wounded memories and bury the hatchet.
This agreement went some way towards calming the demons that have been bloodying our country for decades.
An agreement on paper?
The ruling CNDD-FDD party has never concealed its disapproval of this agreement, even though it was part of the ceasefire signed in Arusha on December 3, 2002 between the Burundi Transitional Government and the CNDD-FDD. “The CNDD-FDD adhered to this agreement out of opportunistic calculation, but it never believed in it. As a result, it set out to undermine it, gradually establishing itself as a hegemonic power. The implementation of the laws and reforms provided for in the Arusha Agreement and the Constitution was entrusted to an actor hostile to the principles and spirit underlying them. He set about gradually undermining Arusha “1.
Surprisingly, it was the leaders of the CNDD-FDD, most of whom were orphans from 1972, who refused to set up an International Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate acts of genocide, war crimes and other crimes against humanity, as provided for in Arusha Protocol I, in order to judge the perpetrators of crimes committed in the country since independence. It has to be said that they themselves had a lot to answer for in terms of crimes against humanity committed during the struggle. In the end, an alliance of reason was formed between the former military regime and the former rebels to bury this judicial aspect.
It was the CNDD-FDD leaders who refused to set up an international judicial commission of inquiry to investigate acts of genocide, war crimes and other crimes against humanity.
Today, what remains of this Agreement is a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), whose work is itself contested, given the selective and extremist memory of its leaders, which distances this Commission from its main objective of reconciling Burundians. But we’ll come back to the CVR on another occasion…
Farewell to Arusha and the hope of peace in Burundi?
Burundi is back in touch with its demons. Barely 100 days in power, the new government led by Evariste Ndayishimiye continues to erase the main gains of Arusha that stabilized the country. Dominated by the hardliners, militarized, the country has once again become a military junta, something the CNDD-FDD had fought against.
The new regime’s track record is already less than stellar. The ethnic purge within the army targeting former Ex-Fab soldiers continues, as do enforced disappearances. The Imbonerakure have committed a number of acts of violence in full view of the Burundi police and judiciary. They kill, hold to ransom, arrest, beat and imprison “opponents” with complete impunity. They are often backed by the forces of law and order. A clan of untouchables above the law rules the roost. On August 25, 2020, in Kinama, in the urban commune of Ntahangwa, Bujumbura town hall, Imbonerakure, mostly made up of demobilized Cndd-Fdd members, beat up three judges, a magistrate and a clerk of the Ntahangwa Court of Appeal who had been waiting to hear the case.
These exactions are accompanied by hate speech that we thought had been buried. Initiated by the late Nkurunziza, the word “Mujeri” (rabid, starving dogs) has been widely adopted by the Imbonerakure to designate the Tutsis. Ibipinga” (traitors) refers to opposition Hutus. As elsewhere, where regimes have dehumanized a category of the population, this serves to justify and relativize atrocities against these groups.
More recently, the case of Kenny Claude Nduwimana has been much in the news. For several months, he has been spreading messages of hatred, calling the Tutsis “thorns that don’t rot”, “poison” or “prostitutes”, “scoundrels”, “common criminals”, “dogs”, “jackals”, “blood-drinkers”, “sub-humans with all the vices”, not “a people of God”, “foreigners” on Burundian soil. The silence of the empowered authorities and the CVR, which until recently had the latter on its communications team, ill conceals tacit support for these hate speeches.
The return of demons and cycles of violence?
As the same causes produce the same effects, it comes as no great surprise that there are increasing reports of a rebellion in several parts of Burundi. These rebels, designated as rebels by some media and as bandits by the Burundian authorities, are carrying out attacks whose scale the authorities are keen to play down. One movement in particular, Red-Tabara (Resistance for a State of Law), acknowledged on September 15, 2020 that it was present in Burundi. This situation is being followed with concern by Burundians, who fear a return to the pre-Arusha demons. After almost a decade of calm, the Cndd-Fdd risks sending Burundi back into the infernal cycle of fratricidal conflict that has long plunged the country into mourning. The cure was there, but the patient refused to take it.
After almost a decade of calm,
the Cndd-Fdd runs the risk of sending
Burundi back into the infernal cycle of fratricidal
fratricide]
It’s true that the Arusha Agreement wasn’t perfect, but its achievements guaranteed the country relative peace until it was shelved by a pseudo-referendum in 2018. We can light the torches of a façade of peace during ceremonies, but true peace lies in the consciences of Burundians. The current government must take the bull by the horns and the international community must put pressure on it before the point of no return is definitively crossed.
References
- Libérate Nakimana, Jean Salathiel Muntunutwiwe, Situation socio-politique du Burundi, 10 ans après la signature de l’Accord d’Arusha : quelles perspectives ? July 2012
- Willy Peter Nindorera, Les interactions entre le processus de paix et l’élaboration constitutionnelle au Burundi Facteur de stabilité ou de crise?