Stories.

2010 General Elections

In the run up to the 2010 elections in Burundi, Landry Ninteretse finds both cynicism and a determination to reject divisive ethnic politics.

Burundi Bikers Mobilise

16 volunteers from the Amahoro Youth Club lead a peace parade of over 100 bikers across the city of Bujumbura.

Cohabitation and Survival in the Peace Village of Muriza

Report on the severe poverty and health problems affecting the inhabitants of a peace village in Burundi. Residents are former IDPs or refugees in Tanzania.

Elections Fears in Mabanda

With the upcoming elections, tensions are rising in Burundi. Political parties seem to be determined to win elections at all costs. Defamatory remarks, intimidations, bribes and unrealistic promises are used to convince voters.

From Guns to Garages

Landry Ninteretse with the story of how a training programme in mechanics by Maison Shalom is integrating former young combatants in Burundi.

No More War!

Report on independent resolution of land conflicts in Rumonge, Burundi, outside the government National Land and Other Properties Commission (NLOPC) scheme.

The Joys and Pains of Sharing Land in Makamba

The conflict over land in Burundi continues to spread tensions.Tubiyage Association in partnership with UNICEF launched a project for peaceful resolution of land-conflicts in Makamba.

From the Editors

Burundi Early Warning Election Project, April 2010
The last couple of years have seen a number of highly impressive developments in the use of mobile phones to monitor conflicts and humanitarian disasters. Now, the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI) of the Friends Peace Teams has created the Burundi Early Warning Project to use the mobile platform to collect information and report on upcoming elections in Burundi. In this way, they will be able to identify flashpoints and enable communities to respond to potentially dangerous situations. Given the fears of violence for these elections, this grassroots information could turn out to be invaluable.

Mob violence in Burundi (April 2010).. Human Rights Watch have just released a long (105 pages) report on mob violence, finding that the “authorities have at times been directly involved in public killings and beatings of suspected criminals, or have facilitated them by forming untrained “security committees” that operate at the margins of the law”.

Burundi – ‘Amnesty International submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review’ (December 2008): This report details wide-scale human rights abuses by state and non-state actors in Burundi. Unreported violence against women, torture and ill treatment and misadministration of justice are amongst the main themes in this report. ‘Between 2004 and 2006, an average of 1,346 women a year reported their cases…(of rape)… to Médecins sans Frontières (MSF).  Minors are also particularly at risk: in December 2006, 60 percent of reported rapes were committed against minors. The Burundian authorities are failing to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish rape and other sexual violence, and the perpetrators often escape prosecution and punishment by the state.’