Burundi

Burundi is a small central African nation located south of Rwanda, west of Tanzania, and east of Lake Tanganyika and the Rift Valley. Politically recognized as a crisis nation-state experiencing civil war, strife, and genocide in recent history, notably due to infighting between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnopolitical factions, Burundi is struggling to find its place as a competitive survivor within the global market.

Today, Burundi is ethnically composed of 85% Hutu, 14% Tutsi, and 1% Twa. Nearly two thirds of Burundians self-identify as Christian; there are 62% Roman Catholic, 5% Protestant, 10% Muslim, and 23% indigenous practitioners. Like many African nations, practices of honoring familial ancestors are common among nearly all religious practitioners, and long-held oral traditions, ceremonies, and festivals worshipping a local divine creator (called Imana in Kurundi, Burundi's national language) are often still acknowledged.

Though Hutus are traditionally agriculturalists and Tutsis are cattle herdsmen, cultural differences between the two groups are minimal. Rivalries were exacerbated and preyed on throughout colonial rule, including by ethnic divisions promoted within the Catholic Church. In 1959, conflict flared between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis in Rwanda and Burundi. Belgian administrative response at the time involved removing Tutsis from political office and appointing in their place the Catholic Church–supported Hutus, as well as forcing all colonial subjects to carry identity cards distinguishing the person's “race” as Hutu, Tutsi, Twa, or other.

Between 1894 and 1898, after the European “Scramble for Africa” meetings, Burundi and Rwanda became protectorates within German East Africa, and the Catholic White Fathers established two permanent mission stations. The region came under Belgian power in 1916 and became independent from Belgium in 1962, with Rwanda [Page 169]under Hutu rule and Burundi established as a Tutsi monarchy. The Hutu-Tutsi rivalry most likely originated from the Tutsi royal, Rwabugiri, who between 1860 and 1895 instituted uburetwa, a feudal system that redistributed lands and required poorer Hutu families to farm Tutsi lands for several days per week.

In 1965, tensions over Hutus not receiving political appointments incited an attempted coup and riots; 1966, 1976, and 1988 saw three more military coups. Thousands of Hutus were killed by Tutsis, along with forced migrations of the surviving refugees to Rwanda, following the military coup of Pierre Buyoya in 1988. The first Hutu president was elected in 1993 and was assassinated barely months later. The loss of life in 1994 was estimated at more than 200,000 persons, following the mysterious plane crash and deaths of Burundi and Rwanda's presidents. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by former Tutsi refugees, took power following the massacre and ended the most horrific ethnic cleansing in history since World War II. Nevertheless, in 1996, another coup occurred, and a decimating 6-year civil war began. With more than 300,000 killed, Burundi's civil war ended in 2002, when the Hutus reentered government. Presently, the Hutu-majority government, led by second-term President Pierre Nkurunziza, struggles to maintain order and a semblance of peace. In 2010′s contested election, only the incumbent was listed on the electoral ballot following severe intimidation of political adversaries, scattered bombings, and purported voter fraud.

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