[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19748-19749]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                BURUNDI

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I am here today to speak a bit about 
Burundi--something the Presiding Officer is familiar with.
  I had occasion to be in Burundi at their request some 16 years ago. 
At that time, the President's name was Buyoya. He is not there anymore; 
they have changed Presidents. There is something going on there on 
which I think the State Department has dropped the ball one more time 
in not interpreting, not understanding what the people of a country 
want: their self-determination.
  Despite its history of outside interference, civil wars, and social 
unrest, Burundi has emerged as a largely cohesive society, overcoming 
the ethnic divisions that plagued it in the 20th century, back at the 
time when I was first there.
  On April 3, I led a congressional delegation of six Members to 
Burundi, where we visited with President Nkurunziza. President 
Nkurunziza is in the middle of his second elected term in office. We 
talked to members of the Parliament, had really intimate relations with 
the members of the Parliament. We actually prayed together. We met 
together, and we got to know them quite well.
  We saw continued growth as a democracy and signs of movement toward a 
diversified economy under the leadership of President Nkurunziza. He 
announced on April 25 that he would run for President again and was met 
by increased protests and criticism from the international community, 
primarily led by us. Our State Department, the United Nations, and a 
few other countries seem to think they know more about an independent 
nation than they know. So they were criticizing him for running for 
office again.
  Here is the problem: A provision in their Constitution says that no 
one can run for the Presidency of Burundi more than two times. The 
problem is that he was not elected the first time; he was appointed by 
Parliament. So essentially, yes, he was elected once, but he hadn't 
been elected again until this recent election. But, again, why would we 
even want to get involved in it?
  On May 4, Burundi's Constitutional Court ruled that President 
Nkurunziza's first term did not count because he was picked by 
Parliament rather than elected by the people. That was followed by a 
failed coup, which took place right after that.
  Leading up to the Presidential elections, the Peace and Security 
Council of the African Union urged ``all Burundian stakeholders to 
respect the decision of the Constitutional Court, when delivered.'' So 
now we have the African Union, we have the courts, and we have the 
people in an election talking about the fact that, yes, he is qualified 
to run a third time--all except our government, which wants to impose 
its desires on another country.
  On May 29, six of us were in Burundi. We voiced our support for the 
decision of Burundi's Constitutional Court and called on the 
international community to support the court's ruling.
  President Nkurunziza won his reelection for President on July 21; he 
got 69 percent of the vote. Instead of working with Burundi and its 
people, the international community has been denouncing the election 
and stepped up pressure on the newly elected government via sanctions 
and withdrawal of support. The United States suspended military 
training in July.
  That is one of the things we do around the world that are really 
working now--a train-and-equip program, going to the country and 
working with them, helping to train those individuals. Of course, when 
that happens, we have the allegiance of those countries. If we don't do 
it, we can be sure that China or somebody else is going to do it. It is 
something that works. We withdrew that training. We are creating 
vacuums that are going to be filled by people who might be prone toward 
terrorism.
  We suspended the military training. We announced that Burundi will no 
longer benefit from the trade preferences under the African Growth and 
Opportunity Act beginning in 2016 and sanctioned four individuals who 
have contributed to the turmoil, including threats to peace, security 
actions that undermine democratic institutions, and human rights 
abuses.
  I am concerned that the responses by the United States and the 
international community will do more harm than good in terms of finding 
a resolution to the current political crisis. Young people are going to 
be denied jobs. They are not going to have the economic opportunities 
to participate.
  According to a New York Times article written on December 5, the 
violence seems to have shifted from what appeared to be government-
sponsored to rebel-sponsored. ``There have been more assassination 
attempts, more grenades tossed at government property and more random 
shootings . . . all thought to be the handiwork of the opposition.''
  Yesterday, December 8, nearly 100 Burundian protesters who opposed 
President Nkurunziza during the months of violence in Bujumbura were 
released from prison.
  We have to continue to support and stand with the people of Burundi 
and their growth as a democratic nation. The United States and 
international community should support and encourage a political 
resolution, not drive division and further unrest.
  While the violence and the loss of life that has occurred in Burundi 
can't be condoned, the situation could have been much worse if it were 
not for the actions taken by President Nkurunziza, the opposition 
forces, and the people of Burundi.
  I have been working to bring all parties together to resolve their 
differences and was encouraged by comments made at Burundi's National 
Prayer Breakfast by President Nkurunziza and the representatives of

[[Page 19749]]

different political parties about looking forward and not looking back. 
There was tremendous applause.
  These countries on the continent of Africa meet in small groups on a 
regular basis, in the Spirit of Jesus, actually, and they have the 
National Prayer Breakfast now. Except for the outside interference, 
peace has been settling in and people are living with the decision they 
made--of course, 69 percent of them having voted for this President.
  I echo Uganda's President Museveni's--whom we are very close to--
confidence that a lasting solution to the conflict in Burundi will be 
found. I encourage all sides to meet together in Kampala or have a 
meeting there as soon as possible to begin resolving political 
differences. I consider President Museveni a friend. I believe he is 
the leader who can facilitate efforts to find a lasting solution to the 
political situation in Burundi. The way forward begins first with 
putting the elections behind us and acknowledging that Pierre 
Nkurunziza is the President of Burundi; second, an immediate agreement 
by all sides to work together to end the violence and to provide the 
time needed to resolve differences in Kampala, and this also includes 
the international community, which I charge to take positive actions to 
help enhance peace versus merely demanding it through punishment; and 
finally, beginning all-inclusive meetings in Kampala under the 
leadership of President Museveni from Uganda.
  I understand the fears that Burundi may regress toward ethnic 
violence, but I do not agree that it is a likely outcome of the current 
situation. We are going have to work on Burundi and not isolate it and 
its people. Only by working together to maintain stability and calm can 
we avoid widespread bloodshed, and the harshest critics are predicting 
that will come true.
  I know there are some good people there, but I have intimate 
relations with the leadership in many of the countries. I see what we 
are doing that is wrong. I remember that the same group of people--the 
United Nations, the State Department, and France--got involved in Cote 
d'Ivoire when President Gbagbo had won a legitimate election. It was 
rigged by someone who wasn't even from Cote d'Ivoire.
  I have been making several critical speeches on our involvement. It 
seems like we seem to want to impose our ideas on other countries when 
it is not to their best interest. I want everyone to be aware that this 
is a problem that is real.

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