1993 ethnic violence in Burundi

The 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the majority-Hutu populace in Burundi are described as genocide in the final report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented to the United Nations Security Council in 1996.[1]

This article is about the 1993 killings of mostly Tutsis in Burundi. For the 1972 killings of mostly Hutus in Burundi, see Ikiza.
People fleeing during 1993 Burundian genocide
History of Burundi
Emblem of Burundi
Kingdom of Burundi
Road to independence
Burundi 1962–present
Burundian Civil War
Current

Background
Main article: History of Burundi
Further information: Ikiza

The demographics of Burundi through the 1960s and 1970s were roughly 86 percent Hutu, 13 percent Tutsi, and 1 percent Twa.[2] For most of this period, the Tutsi maintained a near monopoly on senior government and military positions. Burundi gained its independence from Belgium in 1962, and in May 1965 the first post-independence elections were held. The Hutu candidates scored a landslide victory, capturing 23 seats out of a total 33. But, instead of appointing a Hutu prime minister, the king Mwambutsa IV appointed a Tutsi prince, Léopold Biha, as Prime Minister. On October 18, 1965, Hutus, angry with the king's decision, attempted a coup. The king fled the country, but the coup ultimately failed.[3]

In 1972 another Hutu coup attempt was crushed by the Tutsi-dominated government and armed forces, resulting in a genocide in which between 100,000 and 150,000, mostly Hutus, were killed.[4]

Prelude
Further information: Rwandan genocide, Burundian Civil War, and Rwandan Civil War

Tensions between Burundi and Rwanda rise in the 1990s

In October 1990, Rwandan exiles, mostly Tutsi, who had served for years in the Ugandan Armed Forces, invaded Rwanda. The next three years consisted of war between the Hutu government and the invading forces known as the Rwanda Patriotic Front. In 1993 emissaries from the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) made a peace agreement. A ceasefire was in effect from then on until April 6. On April 6, 1994, the presidents of both Burundi and Rwanda were returning to the Rwandan capital of Kigali with other regional leaders from peace talks in Tanzania. The Rwandan president was under strong international pressure to implement the 1993 peace agreement.

Ethnic polarization escalates in Burundi during the 1990s

In June 1993 in Burundi, the Hutu Party, Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi, FRODEBU, and its presidential candidate, Melchior Ndadaye, won the election and formed the first Hutu government in the country. Tensions began to escalate almost immediately. Small bands of Hutu and Tutsi 'gangs' consistently fought both in and around the then-capital, Bujumbura, often growing into larger groups armed with machetes and attacking each other.

Massacres

Tensions finally reaching the boiling point on 21 October 1993 when President Ndadaye was assassinated during a coup attempt, and the country descended into a period of civil strife. Some FRODEBU structures[5] responded violently to Ndadaye's assassination, killing "possibly as many as 25,000 Tutsi".[6] Trying to bring order back, elements of the Burundian army and Tutsi civilians[5] launched attacks on Hutus, including innocent civilians as well as the rebels, resulting in "at least as many" deaths as had been caused by the initial rebellion.[6]

UN response

In 2002 the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi called the 1993 mass killing of Tutsis a genocide.[7]

Notes
  1. "International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi" (PDF). United Nations. 22 August 1996. pp. 19, 75. S/1996/682. Retrieved 15 September 2017: Paragraphs 85 and 496.
  2. Mann, M. (2005). The Dark Side of Democracy. p. 431.
  3. "This Burundi king was buried in Geneva, but his nation wanted him back". This Burundi king was buried in Geneva, but his nation wanted him back. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  4. Israel Charny (2000) Encyclopedia of Genocide ABC-CLIO ISBN 9780874369281 p.510
  5. International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi (2002). Paragraph 486.
  6. Totten, p. 331
  7. International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi (2002). Paragraph 496.

References
  • International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi: Final Report by the United States Institute of Peace, United Nations S/1996/682; received from Ambassador Thomas Ndikumana, Burundi Ambassador to the United States, 7 June 2002
  • Lemarchand, René (1996). Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-56623-1
  • Longman Timothy Paul (1998), Human Rights Watch (Organization), Proxy Targets: Civilians in the War in Burundi, Human Rights Watch, ISBN 1-56432-179-7
  • Totten, Samuel; Parsons, William S. Charny Israel W. (2004) Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts Routledge, ISBN 0-415-94430-9, ISBN 978-0-415-94430-4

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.