DATE=4/29/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=MANDELA/BURUNDI
NUMBER=5-46229
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=BUJUMBURA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Former South African president Nelson Mandela
was in Burundi Friday for talks on ending the
country's ethnic violence. As V-O-A's Scott Stearns
reports, he is leading international efforts to form a
new government for the troubled East African nation.
TEXT: Mr. Mandela is trying to build popular support
for the peace talks because that process is now coming
down to some hard decisions about who gets how much of
what power in a new Burundi. Without the support of
institutions like parliament and the army, no change
can succeed. But those are just the institutions
where change may be felt most.
Burundi's national army has always been dominated by
the ethnic minority Tutsi. That army has been
fighting against Hutu rebels since 1993, when
paratroopers killed the country's first democratically
elected president, a Hutu. Melchior Nadadaye's murder
set off the latest wave of ethnic violence that has so
far claimed more than 200-thousand lives.
So Mr. Mandela's peace talks have set as a priority
making Burundi's army more representative of the
country's ethnic balance. Now it is at least 80
percent Tutsi, a people who account for less than 15
percent of the total population.
Hutu rebels want the Arusha talks (EDS: the location
of the talks, in Tanzania) to guarantee them jobs in a
new national army. Senior military officials say a
better way to bring more Hutu into the army is simply
by broadening recruitment. Mr. Mandela says he told
the army here it cannot be trusted to change itself.
/// MANDELA ACT ///
They raised the question that they are already
integrating the armed forces. I, of course,
pointed out to them that there can be no
question of integration unilaterally by the army
itself. It must be done, as happens in all
countries, by a structure which commands the
confidence of all the population groups in
Burundi.
/// END ACT ///
Sharing power has risks for Tutsi who believe control
over the army is the only thing protecting them from
murder by the Hutu majority. With control over most
commerce and civil service as well, Tutsi make up a
considerable middle class in this small lakeshore
capital. The question of change has given rise to new
rhetoric against power sharing.
Bujumbura's politically well-connected Power of Self
Defense Association says there is no role in the
army for people it calls "criminals responsible for
genocide in Burundi, Rwanda and Congo." It is trying
to rally public support against the Arusha accords
because, it says, the process involves people who
should be in jail, not in power-sharing talks.
Diomede Rutamucero is the group's president.
/// RUTAMUCERO ACT IN FRENCH ESTABLISH AND FADE
"NOUS SOMME CONTRE." ///
Mr. Rutamucero says "we are against the Arusha accords
because they are going to bring people who have
committed genocide to power instead of to justice.
There will be no peace because we are going to
oppose this process. For now, we will do it
peacefully," he says, "but we are going to use all
means because if we do not," he says, "the people who
have committed genocide are going to continue killing
Tutsi."
It is that sort of demonizing Mr. Mandela is trying to
stop. He wants to reassure Tutsi in power that their
interests will be protected under majority rule. Mr.
Mandela praised senior military officials in
Bujumbura, who he said are more progressive in their
thinking about reconciliation than politicians.
/// MANDELA ACT ///
The defense force in Burundi is far ahead of the
thinking of politicians. They support the
facilitation without reservations, and they want
a speedy resolution to the crisis in Burundi.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Mandela believes he is headed toward a resolution,
having convinced leaders from the main rebel group to
join peace talks for the first time, next month.
National Assembly President Leonce Ngendakumana says
it is time to take advantage of that opportunity and
push ahead with the peace process instead of allowing
more delay to add to the suffering of the Burundian
people.
/// NGENDAKUMANA ACT IN FRENCH. ///
Mr. Ngendakumana says each day that passes without a
cease-fire, without any step on the way to peace, each
time politicians say things which are not on the
path to peace, that adds something to the burden of
the people.
Mr. Ngendakumana says at a moment when the Burundian
people are really engaged in inclusive negotiations,
it is regrettable that innocent people continue to
suffer and to die. That is why, the National Assembly
president says, people are still waiting for Mr.
Mandela's talks to take concrete action to stop the
fighting.
NEB/SS/ALW/PT
29-Apr-2000 10:41 AM EDT (29-Apr-2000 1441 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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