Burundi

Burundi is a country of [[Central Africa], having borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (233 km), Rwanda (290 km) and Tanzania (451 km). While it has no ocean coast, it is on the large, international Lake Tanganyika.

While the civil war, which killed at least 200,000 Burundians, between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi groups is more familiar as a result of the 1994 violence in Rwanda, under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, that Tribunal also has authority over Rwandan violence in Burundi.

People

As of a 2009 estimate, the population is 9,511,330, made up of Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000. The conflict is more ethnic than inter-religious; Burundians are Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23% and Muslim 10%. They speak Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area).

Politics

An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force, established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005.

According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), Burundi has made much progress in leaving its civil war behind, but tensions are rising ahead of elections. The scheduled elections, brokered by South Africa, are in a generally endorsed framework accepted in September 2009, in the form of an Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and a new electoral code.

The polls will take the form of communal, presidential, then legislative – are scheduled between May and September, but opposition parties cannot operate freely, responding with violence to intimidation from the government police and the ruling party’s youth wing

ICG recommends "the region and Burundi’s other partners should reinforce election violence monitoring mechanisms and support deployment of a regional police mission. A senior regional envoy should be appointed to facilitate resolution of political disputes and party leaders warned they face sanctions if they rig elections and possible international prosecution if they commit serious violent crimes."

"In many parts of the country, local administrations are controlled by the ruling Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie – Forces de défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD). These local administrations order the police to disrupt opposition party gatherings and block them from opening local offices. At the same time, civil society organisations and some media are harassed for denouncing the ruling party’s authoritarian tendencies.

Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions in both Rwanda and Burundi. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries.

The new government, led by President Pierre NKURUNZIZA, signed a South African brokered ceasefire with the country's last rebel group in September of 2006 but still faces many challenges.