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| Burundi Crackdown Puts Hutus and Tutsis, and the West, on Edge | Burundi Crackdown Puts Hutus and Tutsis, and the West, on Edge |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| BUJUMBURA, Burundi — A little more than a week ago, Benny Uwamahoro went out for a beer. He met up with some friends, listened to some music and then received a mysterious call around 8:30 p.m. asking him to go to a neighborhood shop. | BUJUMBURA, Burundi — A little more than a week ago, Benny Uwamahoro went out for a beer. He met up with some friends, listened to some music and then received a mysterious call around 8:30 p.m. asking him to go to a neighborhood shop. |
| The next morning, Mr. Uwamahoro, a minibus driver with soft, hooded eyes, was found dead on his back on a dirt path, a bullet hole in his head, his tongue sawed out. | The next morning, Mr. Uwamahoro, a minibus driver with soft, hooded eyes, was found dead on his back on a dirt path, a bullet hole in his head, his tongue sawed out. |
| “Was he targeted because he joined a couple of protests?” his distraught sister asked. “Or was it because he was a Tutsi?” | “Was he targeted because he joined a couple of protests?” his distraught sister asked. “Or was it because he was a Tutsi?” |
| In Burundi, dangerous times lie ahead if that question is being asked, and right now a lot of people are asking it. Ethnic rivalries have set off several devastating wars in this part of Africa, but none come near the deadly legacy of the Hutu-Tutsi divide, which plunged Rwanda into genocide in 1994, wiping out nearly a million lives. | In Burundi, dangerous times lie ahead if that question is being asked, and right now a lot of people are asking it. Ethnic rivalries have set off several devastating wars in this part of Africa, but none come near the deadly legacy of the Hutu-Tutsi divide, which plunged Rwanda into genocide in 1994, wiping out nearly a million lives. |
| Though analysts caution that Burundi and Rwanda are very different from each other, that same politically manipulated fault line killed tens of thousands of people during the civil war here in Burundi as well, casting a shadow that continues to loom over the turmoil in the country today. | Though analysts caution that Burundi and Rwanda are very different from each other, that same politically manipulated fault line killed tens of thousands of people during the civil war here in Burundi as well, casting a shadow that continues to loom over the turmoil in the country today. |
| This is why Western leaders, including President Obama, have tried so assiduously in the past months to get out in front of Burundi’s conflict and press its leaders and opposition politicians to negotiate before it is too late. | This is why Western leaders, including President Obama, have tried so assiduously in the past months to get out in front of Burundi’s conflict and press its leaders and opposition politicians to negotiate before it is too late. |
| According to witnesses, human rights monitors and Western officials, government forces — mostly the police — went on a rampage in mid-December after rebels staged a simultaneous sneak attack on several military bases. Burundi’s government is led by Hutus; witnesses said most of the victims in the revenge attacks were Tutsis. Fears are now growing that this conflict is becoming more ethnically driven and that Burundi is rapidly sliding in the wrong direction. | According to witnesses, human rights monitors and Western officials, government forces — mostly the police — went on a rampage in mid-December after rebels staged a simultaneous sneak attack on several military bases. Burundi’s government is led by Hutus; witnesses said most of the victims in the revenge attacks were Tutsis. Fears are now growing that this conflict is becoming more ethnically driven and that Burundi is rapidly sliding in the wrong direction. |
| “We are looking into multiple reports that those killed during retaliatory attacks, allegedly by the government, were disproportionately from one group of Burundians,” said Tom Perriello, the American special envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa. | “We are looking into multiple reports that those killed during retaliatory attacks, allegedly by the government, were disproportionately from one group of Burundians,” said Tom Perriello, the American special envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa. |
| “Credible allegations of extrajudicial killing by government forces warrant immediate investigations,” he added, “and those responsible should be held accountable, regardless of whether an ethnic dimension is proved.” | “Credible allegations of extrajudicial killing by government forces warrant immediate investigations,” he added, “and those responsible should be held accountable, regardless of whether an ethnic dimension is proved.” |
| The government denies any ethnic bias, saying all those killed were “enemies.” But what is undeniable is that a wave of suspicion and anxiety is moving at great speed across the sunny streets of Bujumbura, the capital, where people sold Christmas trees and shiny tinsel next to men walking around with rocket-propelled grenades. Many Tutsis are terrified. | The government denies any ethnic bias, saying all those killed were “enemies.” But what is undeniable is that a wave of suspicion and anxiety is moving at great speed across the sunny streets of Bujumbura, the capital, where people sold Christmas trees and shiny tinsel next to men walking around with rocket-propelled grenades. Many Tutsis are terrified. |
| The biggest worry now turns on what is happening inside the army. Burundi’s military is commanded by Tutsi and Hutu officers who have mostly resisted getting dragged into the troubles that started this spring when Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, a Hutu, said he would run for a third term, disregarding those who said the Constitution barred him from doing so. | The biggest worry now turns on what is happening inside the army. Burundi’s military is commanded by Tutsi and Hutu officers who have mostly resisted getting dragged into the troubles that started this spring when Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, a Hutu, said he would run for a third term, disregarding those who said the Constitution barred him from doing so. |
| He was re-elected in July. Since then, several hundred people have been killed in protests, assassinations and a wave of gruesome, mysterious murders. All analysts interviewed said the surest recipe for all-out war was if Burundi’s military split along ethnic lines, and that seems to be what is beginning to happen. | |
| On Wednesday, a Tutsi lieutenant colonel in the army announced that he was forming a new rebel group — the sixth. This was precisely the worry: that Tutsi military officers would begin to turn against the government if the reality, or even the perception, was that government police forces were singling out innocent Tutsis. | On Wednesday, a Tutsi lieutenant colonel in the army announced that he was forming a new rebel group — the sixth. This was precisely the worry: that Tutsi military officers would begin to turn against the government if the reality, or even the perception, was that government police forces were singling out innocent Tutsis. |
| Few were surprised when the colonel, Edouard Nshimirimana, claimed that his mission was to “protect the population.” | Few were surprised when the colonel, Edouard Nshimirimana, claimed that his mission was to “protect the population.” |
| According to several analysts, Mr. Nkurunziza is now restacking the military, removing Tutsi officers he does not trust from vital positions and disarming others. One member of the security services said many Tutsi police officers were now being blocked from going on patrol and reassigned to anodyne tasks like guarding banks. | According to several analysts, Mr. Nkurunziza is now restacking the military, removing Tutsi officers he does not trust from vital positions and disarming others. One member of the security services said many Tutsi police officers were now being blocked from going on patrol and reassigned to anodyne tasks like guarding banks. |
| After the rebels attacked several military bases on Dec. 11, which demonstrated the most organized and lethal rebel action yet, government forces stormed their own military academy, killing a number of students suspected of collaborating with the rebels and arresting others. Some suspects were Hutu, two people with knowledge of the operation said; the majority were Tutsi. | After the rebels attacked several military bases on Dec. 11, which demonstrated the most organized and lethal rebel action yet, government forces stormed their own military academy, killing a number of students suspected of collaborating with the rebels and arresting others. Some suspects were Hutu, two people with knowledge of the operation said; the majority were Tutsi. |
| The government also encountered stiff armed resistance in several predominantly Tutsi neighborhoods in Bujumbura and went door to door in those areas, witnesses said, pulling scores of young men into the street and shooting them in the head. | The government also encountered stiff armed resistance in several predominantly Tutsi neighborhoods in Bujumbura and went door to door in those areas, witnesses said, pulling scores of young men into the street and shooting them in the head. |
| Some opposition politicians have been quick to accuse the government of genocide, deliberately harking to Rwanda in 1994. The two countries do share many similarities: their size, their ethnic breakdown of about 85 percent Hutu and 15 percent Tutsi, and their legacy of mass murder. More than 100,000 lives were lost in Burundi during its civil war in the 1990s. | Some opposition politicians have been quick to accuse the government of genocide, deliberately harking to Rwanda in 1994. The two countries do share many similarities: their size, their ethnic breakdown of about 85 percent Hutu and 15 percent Tutsi, and their legacy of mass murder. More than 100,000 lives were lost in Burundi during its civil war in the 1990s. |
| But the riddle of Burundi is that it is not nearly as binary as Rwanda once was or maybe still is, despite Rwanda’s rapid development in the past 10 years. In Burundi, the population, even amid its increasingly ethnic politics, has not turned on itself in this crisis. | But the riddle of Burundi is that it is not nearly as binary as Rwanda once was or maybe still is, despite Rwanda’s rapid development in the past 10 years. In Burundi, the population, even amid its increasingly ethnic politics, has not turned on itself in this crisis. |
| Hutus and Tutsis continue to live together, work together and intermarry. There have been few if any reports of civilians killing civilians along ethnic lines, which is what made Rwanda’s genocide so terrible and what happened to some degree in Burundi in the 1990s. Many Burundians blame European colonial policies for exacerbating divisions between the groups, who share the same language and a long history. | Hutus and Tutsis continue to live together, work together and intermarry. There have been few if any reports of civilians killing civilians along ethnic lines, which is what made Rwanda’s genocide so terrible and what happened to some degree in Burundi in the 1990s. Many Burundians blame European colonial policies for exacerbating divisions between the groups, who share the same language and a long history. |
| More complicating still is that in Burundi, politics and ethnicity overlap, but not completely. More than one dozen Tutsis recently interviewed all said they opposed Mr. Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term. At the same time, many of the armed rebels are Hutus, lying in wait in small houses and in the papyrus swamps on Bujumbura’s outskirts, ready to strike. And it was a Hutu general who led a coup attempt in May. (It quickly fizzled.) | More complicating still is that in Burundi, politics and ethnicity overlap, but not completely. More than one dozen Tutsis recently interviewed all said they opposed Mr. Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term. At the same time, many of the armed rebels are Hutus, lying in wait in small houses and in the papyrus swamps on Bujumbura’s outskirts, ready to strike. And it was a Hutu general who led a coup attempt in May. (It quickly fizzled.) |
| Still, the hottest areas of anti-government resistance have been Bujumbura’s predominantly Tutsi quarters. So it is possible the police have not been singling out Tutsis but simply men who lived in opposition strongholds and who were thought to be rebels. | Still, the hottest areas of anti-government resistance have been Bujumbura’s predominantly Tutsi quarters. So it is possible the police have not been singling out Tutsis but simply men who lived in opposition strongholds and who were thought to be rebels. |
| But some of the recent talk raises red flags. | But some of the recent talk raises red flags. |
| One Bujumbura resident who hid in his bedroom during a recent police sweep, peeking out of an air vent, said he had watched officers drag one of his neighbors, a Tutsi man who was not politically involved and sold milk for a living, into the street. | One Bujumbura resident who hid in his bedroom during a recent police sweep, peeking out of an air vent, said he had watched officers drag one of his neighbors, a Tutsi man who was not politically involved and sold milk for a living, into the street. |
| “This is payback for 1972,” the witness said he had heard the police officers say, a clear reference to the killings of Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi in 1972. The witness said the officers had then shot the milk vendor in the head. | “This is payback for 1972,” the witness said he had heard the police officers say, a clear reference to the killings of Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi in 1972. The witness said the officers had then shot the milk vendor in the head. |
| Another witness said police officers had told a Tutsi man they detained, “Call your friend Paul Kagame to save you,” referring to Rwanda’s president, a Tutsi, before killing him in broad daylight. | Another witness said police officers had told a Tutsi man they detained, “Call your friend Paul Kagame to save you,” referring to Rwanda’s president, a Tutsi, before killing him in broad daylight. |
| The hope is that political negotiations that began on Monday will defuse this crisis and present a path out, though few expect Mr. Nkurunziza to step down or even significantly change the composition of his government. | The hope is that political negotiations that began on Monday will defuse this crisis and present a path out, though few expect Mr. Nkurunziza to step down or even significantly change the composition of his government. |
| The best the opposition can hope for, analysts said, is a commitment to overhaul the police and intelligence services; disband the governing party’s youth militia, which is accused of many human rights abuses; and lift restrictions on the news media. Those actions would level the playing field for the next presidential election in 2020. | The best the opposition can hope for, analysts said, is a commitment to overhaul the police and intelligence services; disband the governing party’s youth militia, which is accused of many human rights abuses; and lift restrictions on the news media. Those actions would level the playing field for the next presidential election in 2020. |
| But five years is a long time. Especially in a place where nearly each dawn, more bodies are found strewn across Bujumbura’s streets, many mutilated like the body of Mr. Uwamahoro, the man whose tongue was cut out. The African Union has proposed sending in 5,000 peacekeepers, though Burundian officials have rejected that, and African Union officials concede that it would be very difficult to land soldiers in Bujumbura if the government opposes it. | But five years is a long time. Especially in a place where nearly each dawn, more bodies are found strewn across Bujumbura’s streets, many mutilated like the body of Mr. Uwamahoro, the man whose tongue was cut out. The African Union has proposed sending in 5,000 peacekeepers, though Burundian officials have rejected that, and African Union officials concede that it would be very difficult to land soldiers in Bujumbura if the government opposes it. |
| Western nations have imposed sanctions against some Burundians, both government officials and opposition members. But some analysts have said the Western attention is a double-edged sword. With all the focus on the coming negotiations, rebel groups may be stepping up their attacks, as they did in mid-December, to raise their profile. Colonel Nshimirimana’s recent announcement about his new rebel outfit may have been simply a ploy to get a seat at the negotiating table, while he still could. | Western nations have imposed sanctions against some Burundians, both government officials and opposition members. But some analysts have said the Western attention is a double-edged sword. With all the focus on the coming negotiations, rebel groups may be stepping up their attacks, as they did in mid-December, to raise their profile. Colonel Nshimirimana’s recent announcement about his new rebel outfit may have been simply a ploy to get a seat at the negotiating table, while he still could. |
| “It’s a nightmare,” an African Union official said. “This thing has taken an ethnic tone. And now we have so many different factions, if these negotiations don’t work, what we’re talking about is another Somalia.” | “It’s a nightmare,” an African Union official said. “This thing has taken an ethnic tone. And now we have so many different factions, if these negotiations don’t work, what we’re talking about is another Somalia.” |