[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 6, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S5768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        DEVELOPMENTS IN BURUNDI

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to call my colleagues' 
attention to the situation in the Central African country of Burundi, 
where a remarkable step has been taken to end that country's brutal 
civil war. Last week, President Pierre Buyoya voluntarily ceded power 
to Domitien Ndayizeye, who will now lead the country through the second 
half of a 3-year transitional power-sharing government. This orderly 
transfer of power, conducted in compliance with the Arusha Accords 
signed in 2000, is an important symbol of ethnic reconciliation, as a 
Tutsi President with a Hutu Vice President gives way to a Hutu head of 
state with a Tutsi Vice President. An African Union force is slated to 
help provide stability during this transitional period. This is a 
development to be celebrated, and the United Nations Security Council 
was right to praise this milestone achievement.
  But much more needs to be done. Rather than being satisfied with 
President Ndayizeye's inauguration, the people of Burundi and the 
international community should seize on this moment as a catalyst for 
more energetic and focused efforts to bring Burundi out of crisis. A 
comprehensive cease-fire among all parties to the conflict is still not 
in place. Little progress has been made to date toward comprehensively 
reforming the security services to reflect a multiethnic society. 
Burundi's future will also depend upon increasing respect for basic 
human rights, ending the climate of impunity in which these rights have 
been violated, and establishing viable mechanisms for holding those 
responsible for abuses accountable for their actions. The international 
community must maintain an engaged policy that both supports these 
reforms and pressures those who resist them.
  Most importantly, the international community and the Burundian 
leadership must take this opportunity to establish a firm relationship 
between positive developments in the political sphere and the 
conditions of the Burundian people, who languish, sometimes in grave 
and consistent insecurity, and often in desperate humanitarian crisis. 
Abject poverty, a dramatic decline in primary school enrollment, 
soaring infant mortality rates, and displacement on a massive scale 
characterize the situation of Burundian society. If we allow paper 
agreements and political milestones to remain disconnected from 
concrete improvements for the people of Burundi, we are only empowering 
the spoilers in this process, and only encouraging the kind of hideous 
violence that has become all too common in Central Africa.
  Nine years ago Burundi's neighbor erupted in genocide. Ongoing 
conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has cost the lives of 
millions. Crises spill across borders, poisoning the prospects for 
progress throughout the region, and creating lucrative opportunities 
for international criminals. Burundi may be small, but its suffering is 
great, and its capacity to help or hinder efforts to stabilize a vast 
swathe of Africa should not be underestimated. We know what the 
consequences of indifference are; we have seen them in the millions 
dead, displaced, mourning and grieving. For a brief moment, Burundi has 
captured global attention. We should not look away again; the stakes 
are too high.
  I yield the floor.

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