[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9566-9567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                BURUNDI

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I wish to speak about the political crisis 
in Burundi, and to urge continued action by the administration and the 
international community to prevent violence and mass atrocities. As my 
colleagues may be aware, the country has a troubled history of violence 
and instability. A 12-year civil war resulted in 300,000 deaths. Though 
the past 10 years have been relatively stable, there have been 
troubling reports of murders, harassment, and intimidation in rural 
areas carried out by the Imbonerakure, an armed youth group believed to 
be associated with the ruling party. According to the United Nations, 
U.N., over 90,000 refugees have fled Burundi since April, concerned 
about potential violence in the runup to the July 15 Presidential 
election. Some of the refugees claim they fear being targeted by 
government-allied militia. More than 27,000 refugees have fled to 
Rwanda, a country with its own troubled history of ethnic conflict.
  President Pierre Nkurunziza's announcement on April 25 that he was 
running for a third term--a move which appears to violate the Burundian 
constitution--has caused over 1 month of protests in the Burundian 
capital, Bujumbura. The Burundian Red Cross has stated that at least 21 
people have died during the protests, most reportedly killed by police 
who have fired live ammunition at protesters. Others have been killed 
by a series of grenade attacks by unknown parties and more than 500 
have been injured. On May 23, opposition leader Zedi Feruzi was killed 
by unidentified gunmen, and private radio and television stations have 
been raided, burned, and shut down. Social media websites used to 
organize protests have been blocked and prominent journalists and 
activists have been arrested. While some of these individuals have 
since been released, the crackdown on dissenting voices is disturbing. 
There are also reports of smaller protests outside of the capital, 
which signals the potential for the violence to spread, should the 
police respond in a similarly heavyhanded way. The situation is 
volatile and analysts are increasingly concerned that the situation 
could suddenly erupt into wide-scale killings resulting in hundreds of 
deaths.
  The Obama administration has been actively engaged in an effort to 
avert mass atrocities in Burundi for more than a year. Various senior-
level administration officials--including former U.S. Special Envoy for 
the African Great Lakes Russ Feingold, Ambassador Samantha Power, 
Assistant Secretary Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Under Secretary Wendy 
Sherman, Under Secretary Sarah Sewall, and even Secretary of State John 
Kerry--have spoken with Burundian officials, regional leaders, and 
other international donors in an effort to dissuade President 
Nkurunziza from running for office again.
  In the wake of the protests, regional leaders are playing an active 
role in trying to calm the situation. The countries of the East African 
Community, EAC, have sent Foreign Ministers to Bujumbura to discuss the 
crisis with a range of stakeholders. The organization held two 
emergency meetings in May, one of which Assistant Secretary of State 
Thomas-Greenfield attended. The African Union and the International 
Conference of the Great Lakes have also convened to discuss the crisis.
  I applaud ongoing administration and regional efforts. I am 
concerned, however, that they may not be sufficient. The U.N. Special 
Envoy for the Great Lakes, Said Djinnit, was dispatched to bring the 
parties together to find a negotiated solution, but he has stepped down 
after being accused by opposition groups of being biased toward the 
government's position. Despite the delay in the polls from June to 
July, conditions for a democratic contest do not exist. There is no 
space for the opposition to campaign and the media cannot operate 
freely. And even in the face of the international community's repeated 
visits, calls, and messaging on the importance of putting the good of 
the country before personal political ambitions, President Nkurunziza 
still has refused to do the right thing and step aside as his party's 
candidate.
  I recommend that we take three additional steps. No. 1, urge U.N. 
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union, AU, Chairperson 
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to work with regional leaders to achieve a 
common approach to a political settlement for Burundi that includes 
Pierre Nkurunziza stepping aside as his party's candidate. It should 
also include a postponement of elections until a way forward is agreed 
to by the ruling party and the opposition that lays the groundwork for 
a legitimate contest. The current delay in the polling date gets us 
nowhere if conditions for credible elections still are not in place. A 
show of solidarity on these issues will powerfully signal the 
international community's commitment to a transparent, fair democratic 
process, and could serve to alleviate tension on the ground. President 
Nkurunziza should be urged to hold police responsible for killing 
protesters, ensure that media can operate freely, and allow for some 
means of verification that he is disarming the Imbonerakure and other 
armed militia as called for by the EAC and referenced by the African 
Union.
  No. 2, I urge President Obama to appoint a Great Lakes Special Envoy 
to replace Russ Feingold as soon as possible. Having a senior-level 
State Department official working fulltime toward a negotiated 
settlement at this volatile time will greatly enhance the efforts that 
administration officials are making to ensure peace.
  Finally, I call upon the administration to refrain from beginning new 
training of, or making additional plans to provide military equipment 
to, the Burundian military at this juncture. While the military has not 
been accused of violence against civilians or abuses related to the 
protests, I see no

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advantage in moving forward with additional programs given the volatile 
situation on the ground. We can resume assistance once we are confident 
that the security situation is stable.
  The situation in Burundi is troubling, but I do not believe it is 
hopeless. I stand ready to support the administration's efforts to 
prevent another tragedy from unfolding in the Great Lakes region of 
Africa.

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