Burundi Genocide

In 1991, Buyoya approved a constitution that provided for a president, multi-ethnic government, and a parliament. Burundi's first Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, of the Hutu-dominated FRODEBU Party, was elected in 1993. He was assassinated by factions of the Tutsi-dominated armed forces in October 1993. The country was then plunged into civil war, which killed tens of thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands by the time the FRODEBU government regained control and elected Cyprien Ntaryamira president in January 1994. Nonetheless, the security situation continued to deteriorate. In April 1994, President Ntayamira and Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana died in a plane crash. This act marked the beginning of the Rwandan genocide, while in Burundi, the death of Ntaryamira exacerbated the violence and unrest. Sylvestre Ntibantunganya was installed as president for a 4-year term on April 8, but the security situation further deteriorated. The influx of hundreds of thousand ... [Read More]

Burundi

The Transitional Government continued to restrict, through direct and indirect means, reporting on the country's internal conflict. For example, on July 14, the Transitional Government suspended the news sheet AGINFO for 7 days for issuing a report alleging that South African peacekeepers were supplying arms to the PALIPEHUTU-FNL and an article claiming that there were signs of a genocide in the country. On the same day, the Transitional Government issued warnings to the news sheet NETPRESS, as well as to the radio stations Bonesha FM and RPA. ... [Read More]

Burundi

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities The principal national problems continued to be ethnic conflict between the majority Hutus and the minority Tutsis and the regional inequities between southern Bururi Province and much of the rest of the country. Almost 4 decades of violence and systematic societal discrimination have exacerbated tensions between Tutsis and Hutus. Tutsis claimed to have been the targets of genocide carried out in 1993 by Hutus angered by the assassination of democratically elected Hutu president Ndadaye. The Tutsis, particularly southern Tutsis from Bururi, historically have held power, dominated the economy, and controlled the security forces. State discrimination against Hutus, who constituted an estimated 85 percent of the population, affected every facet of society, but most strikingly in higher education and certain branches of the Government, such as the armed services and the judicial system ... [Read More]

Rwanda (01/05)

The RPF battalion stationed in Kigali under the Arusha accords came under attack immediately after the shooting down of the president's plane. The battalion fought its way out of Kigali and joined up with RPF units in the north. The RPF then resumed its invasion, and civil war raged concurrently with the genocide for 2 months. French forces landed in Goma, Zaire, in June 1994 on a humanitarian mission. They deployed throughout southwest Rwanda in an area they called "Zone Turquoise," quelling the genocide and stopping the fighting there. The Rwandan Army was quickly defeated by the RPF and fled across the border to Zaire followed by some 2 million refugees who fled to Zaire, Tanzania, and Burundi. The RPF took Kigali on July 4, 1994, and the war ended on July 16, 1994. The RPF took control of a country ravaged by war and genocide. Up to 800,000 had been murdered, another 2 million or so had fled, and another million or so were displaced internally. ... [Read More]

US Dept of State - Women Can Be the Peacemakers of Africa

Washington - In the Great Lakes region of Africa, countries like Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi all have their share of female victims of the genocide and violence that was all too common during their civil wars. ...

Church, with other experts on women's empowerment in Africa, Elizabeth Powley, Krista Riddley, and Laketch Dirasse, addressed the 102nd Great Lakes Policy Forum on December 4, championing the women who survived the atrocities of genocide and brutal violence in the region, and calling for their continued involvement in their country's political reorganization. ... [Read More]

USIS -- Issues of Democracy, May 1996 -- Kritzon War Crimes

The way accountability for mass atrocities is handled may berelevant beyond the borders of the country in question; it mayalso have consequences for future, seemingly unrelated conflictsin other parts of the world. When asked whether he was concernedabout the international community holding him accountable for hisdiabolical campaign of genocide, Adolph Hitler infamouslyscoffed, "Who remembers the Armenians?" referring to the victimsof a genocide only 25 years earlier for which no one had beenbrought to book. In pursuing their campaign of ethnic cleansingand genocide, Bosnian Serb leaders were asked the same question,and more than once pointed to the fact that the Khmer Rougeleadership has never been prosecuted or punished for theatrocities they committed in Cambodia in the 1970s. ... [Read More]

Travel to Rwanda and Sudan

Through his participation in the COMESA meeting in Kigali, Deputy Secretary Zoellick highlighted United States support for COMESA’s role in fostering regional political, economic, and security conditions. He discussed with COMESA and the leaders of its member states our work together to bring about a peaceful, unified Sudan and support the transition process in the Great Lakes. The Deputy Secretary met with Rwandan government officials and visited the Genocide Memorial in Kigali. COMESA member states are Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. COMESA nations’ total population is 385 million, and they have a combined gross domestic product of approximately $388 billion. ... [Read More]

Press Releases

1111--04/05/04   U.S. Delegation to Rwanda for the 10th Commemoration of the Rwandan Genocide ... [Read More]

Rwanda

There were no reports of any action taken against local defense unit members responsible for killing civilians in 2000. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that rebel forces killed civilians in the country. b. Disappearance Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of politically motivated disappearances within the country; however, there were numerous credible reports that RDF forces in the DRC seized and transferred to the country numerous Banyamulenge prisoners following the revolt of Banyamulenge Commander Masunzu against the RDF in late January. Several hundred RCD/Goma soldiers in the DRC suspected of sympathizing with the revolt reportedly were disarmed and sent to the country in May for forced "retraining." There was no further information on the soldiers; many suspected they were killed or remained in secret detention in military camps or prisons. T ... [Read More]

UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)

The Congo conflict involves troops from a half dozen countries, and has become intertwined with internal conflicts in Rwanda, Uganda, Angola and Burundi. Elements of the former Rwandan army and militias implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide have formed an alliance of convenience with the Congolese government, complicating our efforts to address war crimes and impunity. The Congo conflict has the potential to destabilize much of the African continent, with enormous costs to US political and economic interests. ... [Read More]