[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 116 (Thursday, July 23, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE UNFOLDING CRISIS IN BURUNDI

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 23, 2015

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, a hearing that I convened 
yesterday was extremely timely, as events are unfolding in real time in 
Burundi--a small nation that is often overlooked by the international 
community, including those of us here in Congress.
   Many are familiar with the horrific genocidal violence that gripped 
Rwanda in the 1990s, as Hutu and Tutsi butchered each other in 
paroxysms of ethnic hatred.
   Few know, however, that Burundi also went through a protracted Tutsi 
versus Hutu ethnic struggle that also amounted to genocide in the 
1990s.
   Few know that Burundi, without much fanfare and without the largess 
that the international community showered upon Rwanda, overcame its 
divisive civil war and, following a peace brokered by Nelson Mandela 
solemnized in the Arusha Accords of 2000, has sought to heal the wounds 
of the past and rebuild a nation.
   Today, however, this peace is under the threat of unraveling. The 
sitting President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, in apparent defiance 
of the term limits set forth in the Arusha Accords and memorialized in 
the Constitution, is seeking a third term. While the constitutional 
issue is complex and unsettled, the rising political violence and 
tension--not to mention the roughly 160,000 people displaced and 
seeking refuge in neighboring countries--is easy to understand, and 
serves as a canary in the coal mine.
   Now there is a window of opportunity for action, where immediate and 
sustained attention can prevent the situation from escalating out of 
control.
   As in the case of the Central African Republic, over which we held 
two critical hearings in the last Congress, timely attention and 
targeted intervention can stop an incipient conflict from 
metastasizing. Burundi is now approaching a tipping point, though it 
has yet to topple over.
   There is still time, and we in Congress have a role to play in 
sounding the alarm and prodding the administration to take action, 
followed by oversight. We also need to avoid the temptation to be penny 
wise and pound foolish. As several of our witnesses explain, by 
spending a small amount to further democracy and governance efforts in 
fragile states such as Burundi, we can avoid much greater cost down the 
road--and I mean not simply the dollar-and-cents expense of 
humanitarian interventions, but more importantly, in terms of blood 
lost and lives shattered.
   In Burundi, the administration must do more. While often-lonely 
voices such as that of Samantha Power have called attention to the need 
for atrocity prevention, too often the administration policy has been 
one of, if not malign neglect, then certainly non-benign neglect.
   We saw this, for example, in the foot-dragging that accompanied the 
appointment of a Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region. In January 
of this year, then-Special Envoy Russ Feingold announced that he was 
stepping down. I called on the administration to find a replacement as 
soon as possible, as the circle of violence was beginning to widen in 
Burundi.
   In May, for example, I stated that a failure to do so signaled a 
``disengagement when lives are at stake.'' I was afraid that we would 
see a repeat of the administration's inaction with respect to the 
Middle East, where to date it has yet to appoint a Special Envoy to 
Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and 
South Central Asia, despite Congress having created that position last 
August--almost one year ago.
   At the beginning of this month, however, the administration finally 
appointed a Special Envoy.
   In 2012, the administration, to much fanfare, created an Atrocities 
Prevention Board, following a Presidential Study directive which stated 
that ``Preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national 
security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United 
States.'' The APB is supposed to provide early warning of mass 
atrocities, and mobilize interagency resources to stop such atrocities.
   In Burundi, we can still make a difference.

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