by ANB-BIA, Brussels, March 1998
THEME = DOSSIER
Part 2/3: II. The Church in Burundi - Part 3/3: III. A Church in agony
This year, the Catholic Church in Burundi
celebrates its centenary in a country torn apart
by a civil war, which has claimed and still continues to claim
many victims.
Most of the population are Catholics.
Is their faith strong enough to help Burundi overcome its
divisions,
mutual fears and its wounds so deeply ingrained in every aspect
of society?
To understand something of the Church's position these days, and the background to the present civil war, it's important to look at the country's history. And we've certainly got to consider Burundi's ethnic situation as well, because the country's two main ethnic groups are closely embroiled in the violence.
Truth to say, it's a delicate subject, and because of this, when writing about Burundi's history, we have based our research mainly on the New African Year Book (1997-1998), plus L'Etat du Monde (1997).
The original inhabitants of Burundi were the Twa Pygmies who now form only a tiny minority (1%) of the population. "The numerically dominant group, the Hutu, (forming 85% of the population), migrated into the region probably at the end of the first Millennium A.D. But after the 17th century, the Hutu peasant farmers gradually came under the economic domination of the cattle- owning Tutsi and Hima who migrated southwards from Ethiopia and Uganda, forming themselves into a semi-aristocracy, through feudal methods of cattle-clientship and land tenure". (op.cit.)
The Tutsi ruling structure in Burundi was not as centralised as in neighbouring Rwanda. In Burundi, there was a nominal king (Mwami), but the country was a loose unit, often divided by factional rivalries among royal; princes (ganwa), who could exercise as much control as he liked. The rivalry between the Batare and Bezi aristocracies was to linger on and even intensify under colonial rule.
At the end of the 19th century, Germany assumed control of both Burundi and Rwanda. The Germans extended recognition to the chiefs, often giving them vastly increased powers. In 1919, the two territories were mandated to Belgium. "Belgium continued to rule 'indirectly' through the Tutsi chiefs and princes and to grant the Missions a monopoly in education. Colonialism had the effect of exaggerating rather than reducing ethnic differences between Tutsi and Hutu. Urban and modern elites grew with the expansion of education and commercial activities, while in the countryside the peasantry, whether Hutu or Tutsi, saw little or no improvement, only the ruling families acquiring increased wealth and influence". (op.cit.)
As Independence came closer, Prince Louis Rwagasore, son of Mwami Mwambutsa IV, emerged as Burundi's first significant nationalist leader in the brief period from 1958-1961, in which time he led the Union for National Progress (UPRONA). He conducted a campaign for unity, conscientiously using "ethnic arithmetic" to give representation to Hutu leaders in UPRONA. On 13 October 1961, he was murdered by an European, just two weeks after his appointment as Prime Minister. After his murder, UPRONA lost its cohesion as a national movement, and certain Tutsi fanatics used violence to purge the party of its Hutu representatives.
Independence - Mwami Mwambutsa ruled as King and Head of State of independent Burundi from 1962 to October 1965. He tried to give equal authority to Hutu and Tutsi, but without consistent policies. There were five changes of government in the first three and a half years. "After the 1964 elections, in which Hutu candidates were generally victorious, the Mwami refused to appoint a Hutu Prime Minister, whereupon the Hutu military and political elite expressed its feelings of frustrations in an abortive coup d'etat in October 1965. The Mwami fled to Switzerland while clique of Tutsi supremacists began to consolidate their power by removing the "Hutu threat"".
Burundi became a republic under Colonel Michel Micombero, President from 1966-1976. The UPRONA movement was given the status of Burundi's single party in order to indicate "mass support" for the military, but in fact it served as another instrument of repression.
In early 1972, a major tragedy unfolded. A number of new provocations were taking place which added fuel for a Hutu rebellion. Their plan of action was foiled before they could seize control of Bujumbura. About 1,000 Tutsi were killed. In response to the killings, the army went on a sustained mission of "selective genocide", killing all the Hutu who had received any formal education. The number of Hutu who died has been estimated as around 200,000. By April 1974, the number of refugees had risen to well over 100,000, most of them being accommodated in Tanzania, where most of them still are.
On 1 November 1976, Colonel Micombero was replaced in a "palace revolution" by Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, but the regime was not substantially altered, with the Tutsi keeping the upper hand and UPRONA the governing authority. From 1979 onwards, Bagaza began a progressive expulsion of missionaries accusing them of "disseminating tendentious information abroad" and of stirring up trouble among the majority Hutu.
On 3 September 1987, Bagaza was overthrown by Major Pierre Buyoya who continued to rely on a small Tutsi elite. But in October 1988, he appointed a Hutu, Adrien Sibomana, as Prime Minister, to lead a majority Hutu government, and he made preparations for the first democratic and multiparty elections, which took place in June 1993.
Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu, won the presidential election, with 64.75% of votes cast. In the parliamentary elections, his party, the Burundi Democratic Front (FRODEBU) won 71.4% of votes cast, and 65 out of the 81 seats in the National Assembly. Twenty- four hours after the election results were promulgated, there was an attempted coup d'etat, by a handful of Tutsi soldiers who were arrested. On 21 October 1993, there was another coup d'etat, in which President Ndadaye was murdered. His Ministers took refuge in the various Embassies. The Hutu populace felt this was a betrayal of their new democracy and began demonstrations that were brutally put down by the military. Thousands of people were killed.
On 5 February, Cyprien Ntaryamira, a Hutu, became the president, but the violence continued. Ntaryamira was killed on 6 April in the airplane shot down on its descent into Kigali, Rwanda. He died along with President Habyarimana. Rwanda exploded in an orgy of killing, but Burundi remained relatively calm.
In September 1994, there was an "understanding" between the rival ethnic groups: Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, a Hutu, became President, and Antoine Ndawayo, a Tutsi, became Prime Minister. Nevertheless, Bujumbura experienced many outbreaks of "ethnic cleansings", and in the university a number of bloody confrontations took place between the ethnic groups. The supporters of Léonard Nyangoman (FRODEBU) established themselves on the frontier with Zaire. From October 1995, guerrilla action spread towards the centre of the country. Fearing that the whole of Burundi would soon be engulfed by civil war, the international community (Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations) decided that enough was enough and planned on sending an international force into Burundi to control the situation. To prevent this move, the army, led by Major Buyoya, seized power for the second time on 25 July 1996. Neighbouring African countries then decided to impose an embargo on Burundi, until such times as the National Assembly was restored, political parties allowed to exist, and the start of negotiations between the warring sides. Negotiations are still underway; likewise fighting between the army and the guerrillas.
End of Part 1/3
Part 2/3: II. The Church in Burundi - Part 3/3: III. A Church in agony
PeaceLink 1998 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement