Burundi
Tutsi parties boycott Burundi peace plan

afrol.com, 29 August - Yesterday, most of the Burundi political fractions signed a peace accord, sharing the power to bring an end to the last seven years of civil war which have cost over 200.000 lives. However, six of the ten Tutsi groups boycotted the signing of the plan. The remaining parties signed in the presence of U.S. president Clinton.

- The limited endorsement in Arusha Monday of a peace plan for Burundi is a considerable disappointment, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Kris Janowski today said. We had hoped that all participants would sign an agreement, which would have represented an important first step towards peace and raised hopes for an eventual repatriation in safety and dignity of over 330,000 Burundi living in exile. 

A total of 13 of the 19 delegations participating in the peace negotiations, signed the peace accord. The negotiations have lasted for several month under the leadership of mediator Nelson Mandela. Signing parties have included the Burundian president, Pierre Buyoya, the National Assembly, the principal parties representing the Hutu people and four of the parties representing the Tutsi people.

The non-signing Tutsi parties did so because they feared that a possible majority Hutu government might provoke a genocide parallel to the Rwandan genocide (1994). Finally, thus, Mandela managed to convince only four of the ten Tutsi parties.

UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan welcomed the agreement reached in Arusha, Tanzania, by the parties to the Burundi peace process and "the renewed hope the agreement provides for a better future for Burundi." He regretted that not all parties had signed the agreement and urged those that have not signed to do so as soon as possible. 

Hutu militia
The main remaining problem is that the Hutu militias (supported by the Rwandan Hutus, responsible of the 1994 genocide) will not lay down their arms until it is accepted that general elections will be held and that there is imposed a neutral president in the period of transition. 

Tutsi parties, on their side, fear free elections (constituting only 15% of the population) that contain no other guarantees that more radical Hutu groups would not achieve government positions. This might lead to a repetition of the Rwandan history, were a radical Hutu government provoked the killing of almost one million Tutsis in spring 1994.

The refugee situation
Until October 1999, UNHCR was operating small, voluntary repatriation convoys from western Tanzania to northeast Burundi. About 1,000 people per month were choosing to go home even as more refugees fled areas of southern Burundi. After the killing that month of two UN aid workers, the program was suspended and fighting between rebels and the army spread to every eastern province.

The refugee population in Tanzania has grown steadily since. In both December and January, more than 20,000 Burundi sought asylum in western Tanzania. The numbers declined until June this year, but in following weeks UNHCR staff registered an alarming increase as negotiations continued in preparation for the planned 28 August signing. Through last Friday, 25 August, a total of 5,900 refugees had been registered for the month.

UNHCR will not organise repatriation to Burundi until the hostilities in the country cease, the UNHCR spokesman today said. But we continue to prepare for that eventuality. Field staff believe that only a clear endorsement of a peace plan by all parties will send a sufficiently positive message to refugees.

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