| The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date. This site is not updated so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein. |
Title: Burundi Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
BURUNDI
Burundi's first democratically elected government retained power despite
the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye, an ethnic Hutu, in an
October 1993 coup attempt, and the death of his successor, Cyprien
Ntaryamira, a Hutu, in a suspicious April 1994 plane crash. The
Government consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches,
which operate under the 1992 Constitution and the September 1994
Convention of Government. The Constitution provides for an independent
judiciary, but in practice it is dominated by the Tutsi ethnic group.
The Convention of Government created a 10-member National Security
Council, led by the President and Prime Minister, to mediate between the
branches of government as needed. Real power, however, lies with the
military and the minority opposition headed by the Tutsi-dominated
UPRONA Party, which obtained a number of power sharing concessions from
the majority, Hutu-dominated FRODEBU party in presidential succession
negotiations following President Ntaryamira's death. While a multiparty
political system remains in place, effective authority is limited due to
both a strong political opposition and a lack of effective control of
the military.
Political conflict between the majority Hutu and opposition Tutsi
parties has paralyzed the Government. Several Hutu ministers received
anonymous death threats; two were murdered. Tensions between Burundi's
ethnic Tutsi minority--which historically maintained political,
economic, and military control over the country--and the Hutu majority
remain high. Violent conflict between Hutu and Tutsi armed militants as
well as the army has plunged the country into a spiral of ethnic
violence verging on civil war that has not spared the civilian
population.
Security forces consist of the army and the gendarmerie under the
Ministry of Defense, the judicial police under the Ministry of Justice,
and the public security and documentation police forces under the
Ministry of the Interior. The high command of the Tutsi-dominated
military professes loyalty to the elected government and neutrality in
political negotiations. However, the military has committed at least
four massacres of unarmed civilian Hutus and frequently permitted Tutsi
extremists to create civil disturbances and engage in violence against
Hutus. Hutu rebel forces have also massacred both Hutu and Tutsi
civilians.
Burundi is poor and densely populated, with over four-fifths of the
population engaged in subsistence agriculture. The small monetary
economy is based largely on the export of coffee and tea. The ongoing
violence since the October 1993 coup has caused severe disruptions and
dislocations. Large numbers of internally displaced families were
unable to produce their own food crops and had to depend largely on
international humanitarian assistance. The Government made little
progress in its efforts to privatize parastatal enterprises.
The human rights situation generally deteriorated as the security forces
and armed civilian groups committed extensive serious human rights
abuses, which the Government was largely unable to prevent.
Perpetrators generally went unpunished. Because of its superior
firepower and wide dispersion, the most serious abuses involved actions
by the armed forces. Serious incidents of ethnically motivated
destruction and extrajudicial killing occurred throughout the country.
Armed troops brutally killed both armed and unarmed ethnic rivals,
including women, children, and the elderly.
Government efforts to restore security were inadequate. Members of the
armed forces and vigilante groups committed serious human rights
violations with impunity. The lack of accountability for those
responsible for the coup attempt, assassinations, and ethnic violence
was universally recognized as a primary cause of public insecurity. The
dysfunctional justice system could not satisfactorily address this
problem due to its own inefficiency, administrative disruption, and the
public's perception of its partiality to Tutsi officials.
There continued to be disappearances and credible reports of the torture
of prisoners. Prison conditions remain life threatening. Legal and
societal discrimination against women continues to be a serious problem;
violence against women also occurs. The Twa (Pygmy) minority remained
almost completely marginalized.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Amnesty International estimates that between October 1993 and December
1995 over 100,000 people were killed in ethnic violence. The Army was
more responsible than any other group for these deaths, and also
frequently committed abuses in Government-approved operations to disarm
civilians. In addition to extrajudicial killings by the armed forces,
armed militias and other combatant groups perpetrated unlawful,
politically and ethnically motivated killings of political opponents and
members of the other ethnic groups.
In June the military, in pursuit of armed Hutu militants, entered
Bujumbura's Kamenge neighborhood and killed an estimated 150 civilians,
including women, children, and the elderly, according to a high-ranking
Hutu government official.
Many were shot at close range. In July a soldier shot and killed a
driver employed by the National Democratic Institute (NDI). No one has
been prosecuted for the killings in Kamenge; an investigation into the
death of the NDI driver was underway at year's end.
An army operation August 28 at Choga Hill near Bujumbura resulted in the
killing of an estimated 30 to 50 civilians. Choga townspeople brought
four brutally slain civilians to the Unity Monument; two were women, two
were children. The two women had been shot in the chest. One of the
dead children was a boy of 5 whose head had been split open. The second
child was a boy about 10 years old who had been bayoneted in the
stomach.
A Western observer reported that he had seen soldiers shoot a mother,
father, and child at point blank range near Bujumbura on September 9.
Men dressed in army uniforms reportedly killed a Hutu Catholic priest in
Marenga, 90 kilometers northeast of Bujumbura. The assailants dragged
the priest from church during mass. Later, they bayonetted and
discarded his body. According to a local human rights group, witnesses
report that in June a Hutu priest was abducted by a group of young men
in downtown Bujumbura. His body was found two days later in the Tutsi
neighborhood of Bwiza in Bujumbura.
In August and September alone, eight Burundian Catholic priests were
murdered throughout the country. On September 30, two Italian priests
and a lay missionary were murdered at their mission in Buyengero.
According to government officials, three soldiers accused of the
priests' murder "escaped" from the custody of the authorities in October
and have not been recaptured. A fourth person reportedly remains in
custody.
In November elements of the military killed 421 unarmed villagers at
Gasarara; most were children. Tutsi civilian authorities reportedly
accompanied the soldiers responsible for the massacre to a church were
many villagers were hiding. The Government ordered a ministerial
investigation.
In Bujumbura Hutu and Tutsi paramilitary and vigilante youth groups
shot, stoned, beat, and stabbed to death people of differing ethnicity.
In the countryside, armed Hutu gangs ambushed army units, who in turn
carried out vengeance attacks with armed Tutsi gangs against Hutu
civilians. In many areas of the country, both Hutu and Tutsi civilians
continued to be killed in sporadic violence perpetrated by government
security forces and armed gangs.
In March armed Hutu militants murdered three Belgian civilians,
including a 3-year-old, in a highway ambush south of
Bujumbura. In May a Greek employee of Catholic Relief Services was
murdered in Kirundo province. In April an armed attack by Hutu rebels
against a military post in the city of Gasorwe resulted in the deaths of
two soldiers and five attackers. Authorities failed to identify
perpetrators in these incidents.
In two separate incidents during May, armed insurgents ambushed soldiers
in the provinces of rural Bujumbura and Cibitoke, killing five and
seriously wounding one. The perpetrators escaped in both incidents. In
June unidentified attackers ambushed a motorcade carrying the Minister
of External Relations and the U.S. ambassador. The attack, for which no
group claimed responsibility, resulted in the deaths of one army officer
and an Organization for African Unity (OAU) captain from Burkina Faso.
In addition, eight other members of the motorcade were wounded,
including three OAU personnel, four soldiers, and one security guard.
In June at least 17 Hutu university students were killed in revenge
attacks for the killing of 2 Tutsi high school students earlier that
day. In August a group of Hutu militants attacked and brutally killed a
Tutsi officer and his pregnant wife, whom they eviscerated. In
September unidentified attackers ambushed a vehicle convoy carrying the
Archbishop of Gitega, a Tutsi, north of Bujumbura. Three people were
killed and several people were wounded. No one was arrested and charged
in any of these crimes.
In 2 incidents during May and June, unidentified civilians threw
grenades into Bujumbura's central market, killing a total of 8 and
injuring more than 30 people. Police forces have made no arrests in
those incidents. It was not clear whether the attacks were criminally,
personally, or politically motivated. Increasingly in Bujumbura, all
three elements, in varying degrees, motivated incidents of violence.
Armed ethnic groups carried out assassinations throughout the year. In
January a lone attacker stabbed to death the Hutu governor of Muyinga
province. The attacker was not apprehended, and the exact motive of the
attack remained uncertain. However, earlier on the day he was killed,
the governor had publicly condemned armed Hutu insurgents operating in
the province.
In March gunmen shot and killed the (Hutu) Minister of Energy and Mines
in downtown Bujumbura. The Government established a commission of
inquiry into the murder and took two suspects into custody. In March a
group of Hutu militants abducted and brutally murdered a retired Tutsi
army lieutenant colonel in northern Bujumbura. Many viewed the attack
as vengeance against the Tutsis for the murder of the Minister of Energy
and Mines. Eight suspects have been arrested. No trial for these
killings had taken place by year's end.
In May the Hutu chief of cabinet for the Ministry of Health was abducted
and murdered in Bujumbura. His body, recovered in a river, bore
indications of torture. Conflicting reports blame both Hutu militants
and government security forces. A suspect has been arrested, but no
trial has taken place.
Also in May unknown assailants assassinated a local Hutu administrator
in Cibitoke province. The administrator was reportedly outspoken
against the military. In June a Hutu professor and director of research
for the University of Burundi was assassinated in his office by an
unknown gunman. Following his death all Hutu professors fled the
campus. Some have since returned.
In July unknown assailants abducted and murdered the Hutu counsellor for
diplomatic and political affairs at the National Assembly. The National
Assembly president accused the military of the murder. The military
accused Hutu militants of trying to discredit them. No arrest was made
in the case.
The military and Ministry of Justice report that the military issued
approximately 3,500 sanctions against its personnel for excesses carried
out against civilians between October 1993 and July 1995. Of the 3,500
sanctions, 238 resulted in prison sentences, of which 2 are life
sentences.
National efforts to investigate those responsible for the October 1993
coup attempt and subsequent violence have made little progress. The
Ministry of Justice reports that a national commission of inquiry
created in 1994 has resulted in the arrests of 100 people (including
military personnel) believed to be associated with the coup attempt.
Although the commission has not been dissolved, it no longer functions.
Many of those arrested in connection with the 1993 coup attempt and
subsequent ethnic violence were not tried, although they remained in
custody as a result of political gridlock in the National Assembly which
prevented the appointment of court personnel and the reconstitution of
the criminal courts. In September, however, the President bypassed the
Assembly and, through presidential decree, made new judicial
appointments which allowed the reconstitution of the criminal courts.
By year's end criminal courts were functioning at Bujumbura, Gitega, and
Ngozi.
b. Disappearance
Local human rights groups reported that abduction and disappearance were
commonplace occurrences throughout the year. Disappearances were the
result of both political and ethnic rivalry. Valid numerical estimates
were not available, as many disappearances were not reported and some
may have been civil crimes. Disappearances in the countryside are
reported even less frequently.
A well-informed source reports that on April 15 police at a military
checkpoint in rural Bujumbura arrested a Hutu man with no known
political affiliation. Police said that the man was released on April
17, yet the man's family, working through a local human rights group,
maintains that he disappeared while in police custody. A local human
rights group said that in September three Hutu men, arrested by the
police in the Kamange neighborhood of Bujumbura, disappeared while in
custody. Police told the human rights group that the men had been
released a few days after their arrests.
In March a group of Hutu militants abducted and murdered a retired Tutsi
military officer in northern Bujumbura (see Section 1.a.)). There was
no further information on six Tutsis who disappeared in 1994.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The Constitution prohibits these abuses, but they occur in practice. In
March Amnesty International delegates interviewed prisoners who bore
clear marks of torture.
State-run prison conditions were life threatening and characterized by
severe overcrowding and inadequate hygiene, clothing, medical care,
food, and water. Four or five persons were forced to share a poorly
ventilated cell two meters square. Prisoners had to rely on family
members to ensure an adequate diet, and officials acknowledged that
digestive illness was a major problem among the prisoners. Women were
held separately from men. Human rights monitors are reportedly
permitted to visit prisons.
In April security forces discovered Hutu militants operating a civilian
prison in the Hutu neighborhood of Kamenge where two people were being
held. Four prisoners who had been tied up and beaten were discovered in
another Hutu jail in Kamenge. In September a well-informed source
reported the presence of a private prison run by Tutsi militants in the
Bwiza neighborhood of Bujumbura. Scalping and mutilation, including the
breaking of limbs and cutting off of ears, were reportedly carried out
at this prison.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Presiding magistrates are authorized to issue arrest warrants. Regular
police and gendarmes can make arrests without a warrant but must submit
a written report to a magistrate within
48 hours of the detention. A magistrate can order the suspect released
or confirm the charges and continue detention, initially for 15 days,
then subsequently for periods of 30 days as necessary to prepare the
case for trial.
The law also allows unlimited pretrial detention. The police are
obligated to follow the same procedures as magistrates, but have
detained people for extended periods without announcing charges,
certifying the cases, or forwarding them to the Ministry of Justice as
required. Bail is permitted in some cases. Incommunicado detention
reportedly exists, although the law prohibits it.
The disruption of the political process and the general level of
insecurity within the country severely impeded the judicial process.
Pretrial detainees constituted about 75 percent of the prison population
of approximately 4,000 inmates.
The Constitution prohibits political exile, and the Government did not
use forced exile as a means of political control. However, many people
chose voluntary exile in Zaire and elsewhere. Many high-level officials
keep their families outside Burundi. The Minister of External Relations
fled the country in June, while in August the Minister of
Transportation, Posts, and Telecommunications also fled, both out of
fear for their safety.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, but in practice
the judiciary is dominated by the Tutsi ethnic group. Hutus accounted
for 13 of the country's 228 judges and lawyers. The President's
authority to appoint judges and to pardon or reduce sentences was
limited by constitutional amendment in September 1994 during
presidential succession negotiations. Most citizens assume the courts
still promote the interests of the dominant Tutsi minority, and members
of the Hutu majority perceive that the Tutsi-dominated judicial system
is biased against them.
The judicial system was severely disrupted as a result of the October
1993 coup attempt, the repeated presidential succession negotiations in
1994, and the ongoing violence in 1995. When operating normally, the
judicial system is divided into civil and criminal courts with the
Supreme Court at the apex.
Military courts have jurisdiction over crimes committed by members of
the military or those involving actions against the military. The
Constitution provides for a high court to try the President, Prime
Minister, or the president of the National Assembly; it provides for a
Constitutional Court to review all new laws (including decree/laws) and
constitutional issues.
Citizens do not have regular access to civilian and military court
proceedings, although trials are ostensibly public. Defendants are
presumed innocent and have the right to appeal. While defendants have a
right to counsel and to defend themselves, few have legal representation
in practice.
The criminal court system has not functioned since October 1993. Those
arrested on criminal charges since October 1993 remained in custody
awaiting trial. The civil court system functioned, although the lack of
a well-trained and adequately supported judiciary constrained
expeditious proceedings. In September the President appointed by decree
three judges and five jury members to each of the three criminal courts.
The criminal court system provides for five-member juries, appointed by
the President, which sit for 1-year periods. The appointments will
permit the system, whose structure remains unchanged, to resume
functioning after a lapse of more than
2 years. During this time the President and National Assembly failed to
agree on changes to its structure.
Besides the frequent lack of counsel for the accused, other major
shortcomings in the legal system include the lack of adequate resources
and trained personnel and an outmoded legal code. Most citizens have
lost confidence in the system to provide even the most basic protection.
This has contributed to the growing level of violence as revenge became
the method of justice which private citizens carried out for themselves.
Since the late President Ndadaye's 1993 amnesty decree, there have been
no clearly identifiable political prisoners. However, police often
bring charges of involvement in violent crimes or disturbance of the
peace against detainees in connection with political issues.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for the right to privacy, and the authorities
generally respect the law requiring search warrants. Security forces,
however, can monitor telephones and are commonly assumed to do so.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in
Internal Conflicts
Incidents of ethnic violence continued to plague the country, including
a number of neighborhoods in Bujumbura. From March through June,
clashes between the army and Hutu militants in Bujumbura's Kamenge
neighborhood resulted in the deaths of between 200 and 300 people,
according to credible sources. Many homes in Kamenge have been burned
or razed. In June alone, the army killed an estimated 150 civilians
(see Section 1.a.). Thousands of Bujumbura's residents fled the capital
as a result of this fighting. At present some 5,000 Hutus have returned
to the Kinama neighborhood of Bujumbura.
Violence in Kamenge and other Bujumbura neighborhoods continued
throughout the year. By the end of the year, only one of Bujumbura's
neighborhoods was not segregated along ethnic
lines. Most Hutus reside on the fringes of the city, while Tutsis
dominate neighborhoods in town.
Credible witnesses said that troops pursuing armed Hutu militants killed
unarmed civilians, including women and children in rural Bujumbura,
Bubanza, Cibitoke, Muyinga, and Bururi provinces. The army, as well as
Hutu and Tutsi militants, deliberately targeted civilians. A well-
informed government official estimated that 130,000 people had been
displaced in Bubanza province as a result of violence.
Violence and theft in the countryside has severely hampered the delivery
of relief supplies and humanitarian assistance. One international
relief organization chose to deliver relief supplies by air due to lack
of security on overland routes.
In April armed bandits, with the complicity of the army, hijacked trucks
with approximately 500 metric tons of donated food supplies in Muyinga
province. Two workers were killed.
Hutus in the interior attacked displaced Tutsis attempting to return to
their homes. Military troops on legitimate disarmament operations
targeted noncombatants or destroyed homes, crops, or markets without
authorization and often without provocation. Displaced Tutsis, often
with the help of members of the military or armed Tutsis militants from
the capital, attacked Hutus and burned homes in turn, maintaining a
cycle of retribution.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for the right to free opinion and expression
so long as these rights are expressed "in a manner consistent with the
public law and order." In practice, the Government respects this
provisional guarantee, but has added new restrictions on what can be
said.
The 1992 Press Law restricts criticism of government policies, the
person of the President, and statements which the authorities at their
discretion could construe as contrary to national unity or injurious to
the national economy. The law also provides for government review and
possible censorship of all media prior to publication. In practice,
private newspapers were published without prior government review and no
cases of seizure were recorded.
In January the Government enacted a security measure which required that
"every declaration made by the political parties over the national
electronic media ... be submitted to a radio or television journalist"
so that it might "be rewritten in a professional manner." This measure
had negligible results in practice. Although political statements read
by party leaders were no longer broadcast on television and radio,
reporting of political rallies with extended excerpts of uncensored
partisan speeches increased.
In February the Government established a press unit within the public
prosecutor's office to monitor the press. Its purpose was to enforce
the 1992 law which required daily newspapers to submit for government
review two copies of each issue 4 hours before publication. All other
publications were required to submit to the Government two copies of
each issue at least 24 hours prior to circulation. This law was not
enforced in practice, and newspapers ignored it with impunity.
Twenty-five newspapers appeared regularly, in addition to the
government-owned French-language daily Le Renouveau. There were 13
weekly and 3 monthly French-language newspapers. The remainder were
Kirundi-language publications. Journalistic standards were low, and
most newspapers were simply political party newsletters. Others were
consistent and energetic organs of ethnic hatred. No newspaper was
banned or suppressed by authorities. Newspaper readership, however,
remained limited.
Most people relied on the two Government-owned radio stations for
information. One station broadcast in Kirundi, the other in French,
Swahili, and English. The two stations allowed political parties equal
broadcasting opportunities in rotation. Some opposition parties
complained that the arrangement provided insufficient access. Since
1994 clandestine radio messages, originating from unknown sources and
broadcasting intermittently, were used by Hutu rebel groups and by
Leonard Nyangoma to attack the Government and the Tutsi establishment.
The Civil Code does not address academic freedom. Although no persons
were persecuted for what they published or said, the University remains
a monoethnic institution. Hutu are discouraged from returning by other
students.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
A 1991 decree/law established guidelines for granting permits for public
meetings or parades. The Government often denied rally permit
applications to the President's Hutu-dominated majority FRODEBU party.
It claimed that it could not guarantee security. The Government did
grant opposition parties permits for several public rallies and
demonstrations, but it occasionally denied this permission when it
alleged that the lead time was insufficient to arrange adequate
security. Most meetings were subsequently rescheduled.
Unlike the situation in the capital, there were no reports of government
harassment or bureaucratic obstacles to the formation of associations in
rural areas. However, rural residents other than those gathered in
displaced camps did not form associations, fearing inadequate government
security.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution does provide for freedom of religion. There is no
state religion, and the Government made no attempt to restrict freedom
of worship by adherents of any religion. However, in interethnic
conflict, a number of Catholic priests were murdered (see Section 1.a.),
evidently targets of opposition assailants. The Government has scant
ability to protect politically targeted clergy.
Some Tutsi political leaders accused the Catholic Church of supporting
the Hutus. On September 22, for example, 8 days before the murders of
the Italian priests, the newspaper of UPRONA, the most important Tutsi-
dominated party, published an article which claimed that the clergy was
"hand-in-hand" with FRODEBU. It also accused the Church of being
responsible for the formation of FRODEBU, which it characterized as a
"Nazi party with an ideology of genocide."
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Immigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution provides for these rights, but the Government
restricted their exercise. In general, the Government made no attempt
to restrict citizen's travel for political reasons, either internally or
abroad. In January, July, and December, however, it closed the
Bujumbura-Uvira, Zaire, border crossing to both Burundi and Rwandan
citizens for 2- to 3-day periods, citing security reasons.
Political parties and civilian militant groups at times prevented
citizens traveling to work and to other locations. In February activity
in the city of Bujumbura and provincial towns including Gitega, Rutana,
Ngozi, and Kayanza came to a standstill for 3 days when the UPRONA Party
conducted a peaceful protest against the Prime Minister. In May Tutsi
youths, through violence and intimidation, hindered free movement within
Bujumbura for 3 days to force the release of fellow youth arrested for
criminal wrongdoing.
Movement throughout the country has been restricted by security concerns
which the Government has not allayed. Increasing banditry and ethnic
violence perpetrated by armed gangs and the military has rendered travel
in the countryside perilous. In most of the country, Hutus rarely enter
Tutsi areas, and Tutsis rarely enter Hutu areas. Military security
checkpoints throughout the country effectively restrict movement.
Several hundred thousand Burundian refugees, most of them Hutu, remained
in Zaire and Tanzania at year's end. Many fled following the
presidential assassination and coup attempt in October 1993. Others
fled as early as 1972; more fled this year.
As a result of continuing ethnic and political violence, particularly in
the northwest, little progress was made in repatriating either these
refugees or in returning the internally displaced persons to their home
communes. Citizens continued to flee their homes in increasing numbers
as a result of the growing violence. This resulted in significant
increases in the number of internally displaced persons as well as the
number of Burundian refugees in eastern Zaire and northwestern Tanzania.
More than half the population of the provinces of Cibitoke, Bubanza, and
rural Bujumbura were estimated to be either refugees or internally
displaced persons. The high level of insecurity made it very difficult
to assess accurately the number of internally displaced people or to
provide adequate humanitarian assistance for them.
In June Burundi, Rwanda, and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees formed a tripartite commission to facilitate the return of the
more than 200,000 Rwandan refugees who fled to northern Burundi
following the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. These refugees, predominantly
Hutu, were a growing source of concern to the Government, since their
presence exacerbated ethnic tensions in the volatile northern provinces.
The tripartite commission contributed to the voluntary repatriation of
38,000 of Rwandan refugees.
In April and May, the army forcibly returned to Rwanda groups of 30 and
500 refugees respectively. This forced repatriation of refugees was,
however, not repeated.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for free, multiparty elections by secret
ballot, with a 5-year term of office for both the President and members
of the National Assembly. Citizens exercised this right in 1993, but
subsequent events eroded the power of the elected Government.
Presidential succession negotiations following the October 1993 Ndadaye
assassination and the April 1994 death of Ntaryamira led to a Convention
of Government, signed in September 1994. The Convention allows for the
Interim President to remain in office until June 1998, at which time a
new president will be elected. National Assembly elections are also
scheduled for June 1998.
There are no legal restrictions on the participation of women or
indigenous people in elections or politics. In practice, however, both
women and ethnic Twa (Pygmies), who comprise about 1 percent of the
population, are underrepresented in government and politics. Women
currently hold 2 of 22 Cabinet seats and 9 of 81 National Assembly
seats. Although the Twa voted in the 1993 elections, none sought
political office.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
Local human rights groups received varying degrees of cooperation from
government ministries. The human rights group Iteka continued to
operate and publish a newsletter on the human rights situation. The
Government welcomed international human rights groups, including Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch Africa. The work of such
organizations was hampered, however, by insecurity in the countryside
and the Government's inability to protect human rights workers.
An OAU military officer was killed and three other OAU personnel wounded
in an attack in June on a motor convoy that included a government
minister and the U.S. ambassador (see Section 1.a.). In September an
ambush of an OAU vehicle travelling in Karuzi province resulted in the
death of the Burundian driver and the wounding of a Burundian soldier.
The OAU subsequently suspended operations in Karuzi province. In May a
Greek relief worker was murdered in Kirundo province (see Section 1.a.).
Local military authorities, often acting independently, frequently
refused access to human rights and international aid workers. Militant
extremists, both Hutu and Tutsi, threatened the lives of people
investigating human rights violations. Some international human rights
organizations expressed concern at a lack of government support in the
face of such adversity.
An international commission of inquiry was established to investigate
the October 1993 assassination of President Ndadaye and its violent
aftermath. Burundi authorities first requested such a commission in
late 1993 and formally set forth the request in the September 1994
Convention of Government. In August the Government informed the United
Nations Security Council that it was willing to work with an
international commission of inquiry. Later in August, the U.N. Security
Council adopted Resolution 1012 requesting the U.N. Secretary General to
establish this commission. In October the members of the Commission
arrived in Burundi, but poor security initially hampered their work.
Security for the Commission is being improved.
The U.N. sent a fact-finding mission in February. The Government
allowed Amnesty International to send delegations to Burundi in March
and May. Numerous other international human rights organizations sent
missions to Burundi.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The Constitution explicitly provides equal status and protection for all
citizens, without distinction based on sex, origin, ethnicity, religion,
or opinion. However, the Government failed to enforce effectively all
the Constitution's provisions.
Women
Violence against women occurred, but there was no documentation of its
extent. Wives have the right to bring physical abuse charges against
their husbands; in practice they rarely do so. Police do not normally
intervene in domestic disputes, and the press does not report incidents
of violence against women, including rape. There were no known court
cases dealing with abuse of women.
Women hold a secondary place in society and face both legal and societal
discrimination. Explicitly discriminatory inheritance laws and
discriminatory financial credit practices remained unchanged. Although
women by law must receive the same pay as men for the same jobs, women
are far less likely to hold any mid- or high-level positions. In rural
areas, women traditionally perform hard farm work and have less
opportunity for education than men.
Children
The Government has taken no action to protect children's rights, nor has
it addressed the growing problem of the increasing population of orphans
which resulted from the continued violence since 1993. Children have
not been spared by belligerents in the civil conflict; many of the
victims of massacres have been children.
People with Disabilities
The Government has not enacted legislation or otherwise mandated access
to buildings or government services for people with disabilities.
Burundi's rudimentary economy effectively excludes the physically
disabled from many types of employment.
Indigenous People
The Twa (Pygmy) minority remained almost completely marginalized--
economically, socially, and politically. Most Twa continued to live in
isolation, uneducated, and without access to government services,
including health care. The Twa voted in the 1993 election, but were
otherwise outside the political process.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Burundi's fundamental problem continued to be ethnic conflict between
the majority Hutus, who gained political power only with the election of
Ndadaye, and the minority Tutsis, who have historically held power and
still control the military and dominate educated society. De facto
ethnic discrimination against Hutus--85 percent of the population--
colors every facet of society and institutions, including the military
and the judicial establishment, despite constitutional provisions and
some policies introduced under the Buyoya military administration to
attract Hutus into the professions.
The Ndadaye Administration upon assuming office began a more concerted
effort to put Hutus into the government bureaucracy. Those policy
changes quickly led to increased tensions between long-term Tutsi
professionals and the FRODEBU Government. Anonymous threats and
assassinations of Hutu ministers and government officials took place
under Ndadaye and continued this year. Tutsi students have intimated
Hutu students that University of Burundi. There are almost no Hutus in
attendance at the University.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution and the Labor Code nominally protect the rights of
workers to form unions, although the military, the gendarmerie, and
certain expatriates working in the public sector are prohibited from
union participation. Most workers are urban civil servants.
Since gaining its independence from the Government in 1992, the
country's first national umbrella trade union, the Organization of Free
Unions of Burundi (CSB), has been financially dependent on a system of
voluntary checkoffs, as are local unions. The CSB represented labor in
collective bargaining negotiations in cooperation with individual labor
unions. Unions are Tutsi-dominated, reflecting the fact that it is
mainly Tutsi who are employed in the formal sector of the economy.
The Labor Code permits the formation of additional unions or
confederations outside the CSB. In March a second national umbrella
trade union, the Confederation of Unions of Burundi (COSBYU), was
formed. COSBYU represents eight national unions. The Teachers' Union
was the only union outside the two umbrella trade union organizations
this year.
When settling disputes in which more than one labor union is
represented, the law stipulates that the Minister of Labor will chose
the union representing the greatest number of workers to participate in
the negotiations.
Unions are able to affiliate with international organizations. The
Labor Code also provides workers with a restricted right to strike.
Restrictions on the right to strike and lockout are several: the action
must be taken only after exhausting all other peaceful means of
resolution; negotiations must continue during the action, mediated by a
mutually agreeable party or by the Government; and 6 days' notice must
be given. The law prohibits retribution against workers participating
in a legal strike and this provision is upheld in practice.
Three nationwide strikes took place this year. In July the National
Teachers and Nurses Union went on strike to demand higher salaries. The
strikers were unsuccessful and after discussions with the Government
returned to work.
The two other major strikes were tied to the political situation.
Employees of the National Institute of Social Security struck in August
to demand the dismissal of the Institute's director of finance, whom
they accused of mismanagement. The employees also demanded the
formation of a new board of directors. The Institute's director of
finance was Hutu and a FRODEBU member, while the striking employees were
mostly Tutsis and members of UPRONA, the most important Tutsi-dominated
party. Although the director of finance did not formally resign, he
stopped work in September. In the same month, employees resumed work as
negotiations on the board of directors continued.
In August employees of the National Office of Telecommunications
(Onatel), who were mostly Tutsi, struck to demand the dismissal of
Onatel's four executive directors, all Hutus, whom they accused of
mismanagement. The employees also demanded the formation of a new board
of directors. Onatel's employees resumed work in September after a new
board of directors was formed and three of the four executive directors
were dismissed. The only executive director who retained his position
belonged to the UPRONA Party. The three who were dismissed were members
of different Hutu-dominated political parties.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Labor Code recognizes the right to collective bargaining, which had
formerly been acknowledged only by ordinance. Since most workers are
civil servants, government entities are involved in almost every phase
of labor negotiations.
Public sector wages are set in fixed scales in individual work contracts
and are not affected by collective bargaining. In the private sector,
wage scales also exist but individual contract negotiation is possible.
In principle, private sector wage scales can also be influenced by
collective bargaining, although this is infrequent.
The Labor Code gives the Labor Court jurisdiction over all labor dispute
cases, including those involving public employees. Labor negotiations
are still conducted largely between unions and employers under the
supervision of the tripartite National Labor Council, the Government's
highest consultative authority on labor issues. The Council represents
government, labor, and management and is presided over and regulated by
the Minister of Labor.
The Labor Code prohibits employers from firing or otherwise
discriminating against a worker because of union affiliation or
activity. This right is upheld in practice.
There are no export processing zones, although a decree/law making the
entire country a free zone for many nontraditional, export-oriented
activities was promulgated in 1992.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and it is not practiced.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code states that children under the age of 16 are not allowed
to be employed by "an enterprise" even as apprentices, although it also
states that they may undertake occasional work which does not damage
their health or interfere with their schooling. In practice, in rural
areas children under age 16 do heavy manual labor such as transporting
bricks in daytime during the school year.
Children are legally prohibited from working at night, although many do
so in the informal sector. Children are obliged by custom and economic
necessity to help support their families by participating in activities
related to subsistence agriculture in family-based enterprises and the
informal sector.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The formal minimum wage for unskilled workers is $0.58 (145 Burundi
francs) per day in Bujumbura and Gitega and $0.48 (120 Burundi francs)
in the rest of the country, with a graduated scale for greater skill
levels. This amount does not allow a worker and family to maintain a
decent standard of living, and most families rely on second incomes and
subsistence agriculture to supplement their earnings. Employees working
under a contract, particularly in urban areas, generally earn
significantly more than the minimum wage. All employees in the public
sector work under contract. The CSB estimates that 70 percent of
employees working in the formal private sector are covered by a
contract.
The Labor Code imposes a maximum 8-hour workday and 45-hour workweek,
except in cases when workers are involved in activities related to
national security. Supplements must be paid for overtime. The Labor
Code establishes health and safety standards requiring an employer to
provide a safe workplace and assigns enforcement responsibility to the
Ministry of Labor. However, the Ministry does not enforce the code
effectively. Health and safety articles in the Labor Code do not
directly address workers' right to remove themselves from a dangerous
work situation.
(###)
[end of document]
Return
to 1995 Human Rights Practices report home page.
Return to DOSFAN
home page.
This is an official U.S. Government source
for information on the WWW. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links
does not imply endorsement of contents.