[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 39 (Thursday, March 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3436-S3437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      PREVENTIVE ACTION IN BURUNDI

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, in the past few months, political 
violence between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-dominated military has 
intensified in the small Central African nation of Burundi.
  Extremist Tutsi gangs, seeking to destabilize the Hutu government, 
have been carrying out dead city operations, where residents are 
ordered to remain at home or shut down business, or risk violent 
attacks. Grenades are exploding in crowded city centers, including one 
which recently blew up a bus, and another which killed many civilians 
in a schoolyard. Scores of civilians have been murdered, and a Hutu 
provincial Governor, Fidele Muhezi, was assassinated on January 26. The 
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says that over 60,000 people have 
fled to Tanzania, including 30,000 last week alone.
  These are tragedies in any context. In Burundi, they bear eerie 
resemblances to what happened in neighboring Rwanda in April of last 
year, which of course exploded in the bloodiest genocide ever recorded, 
in real time, on television. Given the close ties between the tribes in 
both countries, events in Rwanda influence happenings in Burundi.
  Like Rwanda, Burundi's population is roughly 85-percent Hutu and 15-
percent Tutsi. Like Rwanda, there is a long history of Hutu-Tutsi 
violence. Like Rwanda, the parties in Burundi have been pursuing peace 
through a power-sharing arrangement and democratic means. In Burundi, 
the agreement brought elections in which a Hutu was chosen President, 
but the Tutsis continued to dominate the military.
  Already violence has erupted once since the peace process began when, 
in October 1993, President Melchoir Ndadaye was assassinated by Tutsis, 
and in retribution by both sides, up to 50,000 people were slaughtered. 
Almost 10,000 more people have died in ethnic violence since then. The 
current cycle of violence further threatens the peace plan. For 
example, the Tutsi opposition party has called for the coup d'etat of 
the Government. This recent spate of violence is a result of extremist 
Tutsis, with little or no popular support, trying to seize power from 
Hutus, which they cannot get through democratic means.
  For months, observers have been warning that Burundi will go the 
route of Rwanda if order and justice are not restored. Pierre Buyoya, 
the former Tutsi military ruler who initiated the democratization 
programs in Burundi, in fact, states in the Washington Post on February 
6 that ``Things are worse in Burundi than they were in Rwanda in 
April.'' Scholars have documented that historically, violence in Rwanda 
has foreshadowed violence in Burundi, and vice-versa.
  A major reason this violence is so frightening is that many of the 
individuals responsible for the assassination of President Ndadaye and 
the subsequent killings have never been prosecuted. This impunity only 
reinforces the use of violence as a legitimate political tool, and 
could effectively help extremists achieve their goals.
  In an effort to help contain this mounting chaos and to build 
democracy in Burundi, the United States should request the U.N. 
Security Council to establish a judicial commission of experts. This 
commission would assist the Burundi Government to investigate President 
Ndadaye's assassination and the mass murders in 1993. Legal officers, 
investigators, and judges from countries with legal systems similar to 
Burundi's, such as Mali, could work in this commission. A strengthened 
Burundi judicial system would demonstrate that there is no impunity for 
such heinous political crimes. International assistance is needed to do 
it.
  I want to applaud the administration for its high-level attention to 
this problem. I commend President Clinton's personal plea on the Voice 
of America to the people of Burundi, urging them to ``say no to 
violence and extremism'' and work toward peace. I am also pleased that 
National Security Adviser Tony Lake and Secretary of State Warren 
Christopher have publicly expressed their concerns about Burundi and 
called for diplomatic intervention. These are calls which carry 
significant weight in Burundi, and if successful, will have contributed 
to prevention of a potentially horrible conflict. I want to make sure 
that they will get public credit for their efforts.
  [[Page S3437]] Given the histories and the lessons of the very recent 
past, the United States and the international community should be 
responsive to calls for help when another Central African nation is on 
the brink of disaster. We have offered rhetoric that early preventive 
action can save millions of lives and billions of dollars later. 
Conflict resolution and preventive diplomacy is a new mantra in 
international relations. And it should be. Here is an opportunity to 
listen to the warning signs and respond in some way.
  If we do, Burundi may be able to stem the recent spate of violence 
and continue its move toward democracy. If we do not, then Burundi 
risks becoming another Rwanda.


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