Burundi on the brink

Bujumbura, February-March 2016. Since over a year, the country has been facing a situation of political and social crisis following the candidacy for a third term by President Pierre Nkurunziza. This unconstitutional act originated violent protests by the population. After the failed coup of May 13 2015, led by Major General Godefroid Niyombare, the demonstrations continued until January 2016, when the government started a brutal repression on the population living in neighborhoods considered mainly anti-governmental (Cibitoke, Mutakura , Musaga, Nyakabiga, etc.). The inhabitants of these neighborhoods are suspected of supporting rebel groups, including the Red Tabara, formed in early 2016 with the intention of overturning the government.

Although in the city one can breathe a situation of apparent calm, at night the police carries out raids in these neighborhoods, arresting people indiscriminately even if unrelated to the activities of rebels. Repression and control over the population is also exercised through the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the majority party (CNDD-FDD), which often uses violent methods.

Night clashes and attacks with grenades are frequent in the city and they often affect the civilian population. The Police reports that the attacks are made by rebels, who instead claim to never make attempts against the civilian population. Due to the crisis in the country, over 240,000 people poured between Rwanda and Tanzania to the refugee camps set up on border areas. Among these, there are many journalists and intellectuals opposed to the Nkurunziza government, which during 2015 has banned and destroyed the city’s radio stations.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the poverty rate in the country has increased significantly. Even the infrastructures are not sufficient for the needs of the population, both from a medical and food point of view. It is estimated that since April 2015 the civilian victims are more than 400. Humanitarian organizations accuse the government of having thrown the bodies into several mass graves. On the 22nd of February 2016, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the country to discuss the current crisis. On that occasion, President Nkurunziza said he intended to release 2000 prisoners, who in the last year had been arrested along with another thousand people.