6 February 2008
Bujumbura — Today Burundians celebrated their 17th anniversary of national unity. The country's top authorities and former presidents of Burundi attended the ceremonies which took place at the national unity monument located at Kiriri.
President Pierre Buyoya initiated the national unity charter after the 1988 massacres at Ntega and Marangara which showed the fractured state of Burundian society. More than 99 percent of the population voted for this charter which, nevertheless, did not prevent the killing of the first democratically elected President, Melchior Ndadaye, which sparked genocidal violence in this tiny central African country.
The Arusha peace deal that was struck in 2000 provided the tools for the peaceful cohabitation of Burundians and power-sharing which are now incorporated in the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi. The formerly Tutsi dominated defence and security forces have been integrated. Last year, the leader of the Tutsi dominated Uprona party claimed that the legally prescribed ethnic violence does not exist in the armed forced since Tutsi are no longer adequately represented in the national defence force.
Although CNDD-FDD is in power, sources indicate that the party is afraid of the integrated armed forces. There are currently few Hutu senior officers at the decision-making levels of the army. Despite this situation, the CNDD-FDD-led government has not furthered reforms that President Ndayizeye initiated in the Transitional Period under intense pressure from the current ruling party. The letter that Col Vital Bangirinama left before fleeing the country shows the discrepancies in the army today. This Hutu officer and former CNDD-FDD combatant who is wanted in connection with the extrajudicial executions of about 30 people in Muyinga in 2006 wrote that he received the order to carry out the killings from the defence minister, adding that he informed the army chief of staff. These revelations have created turmoil in the army since Col Bangirinama accuses mainly Tutsi officers from the former Burundian Armed Forces.
The state of national unity seems to have improved although many Burundians fear the possibility of other bloody events in a country where violence can arise quickly. Late in 2007, the killing of a trader in Kirundo led many Tutsi of this province to flee to the Rwandan border in fear for their security.
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