Counterterrorism Law and Practice in Burundi and Rwanda
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Chapter 5 Counterterrorism Law and Practice in Burundi and Rwanda 5.1 Introduction: Ethnic Conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi The long-standing ethnic conflict in the Great Lakes Region, largely involving the Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Burundi and Rwanda, has been one of the deadliest and most protracted conflicts on the African continent. Some observers contend, for example, that the Tutsi have distinct origins, physical characteristics, and other attributes that account for their long-standing social and economic status, but others dispute many of the points as “mythico- histories.”1 Nonetheless, whether the conflict narrative is a carryover from precolonial antagonisms or a direct outcome from German/Belgian colonial rule, it has current meaning for many people on both sides of the ethnic divide who have lived together in the same hills and have spoken the same language (Kirundi) for generations. Indeed, many Hutu today have seen themselves as oppressed and discriminated against—a form of black ethnic “apartheid”— under minority Tutsi rule, while many Tutsi have been fearful of the Hutu- domination (i.e., rule by the “democratic majority”) that could result through the electoral process. Still, the underlying ethnic tension between the two groups provides the fuel for the terrorist threat facing each country, often with events in one country impacting the tensions and threats faced by its neighboring partner. In fact, both countries share many commonalities, to include geographic size and population base,2 economic development,3 ethnic composition, 1 In fact, Rene Lemarchand argues that the conflict centers around “three basic disagreements: the significance of ethnicity as a source of tension; the nature of cultural differentiation between Hutu and Tutsi; and the role of history in shaping ethnic antagonisms.” Rene Lemarchand, Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide 17–18 (1994). 2 According to The World Factbook, published by the Central Intelligence Agency, the estimated 2017 population of Burundi is 11.4 million persons in a land area of 25,680 square kilometers, while the estimated 2017 population of Rwanda is 11.9 million persons in a land area of 24,688 square kilometers. CIA, The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/ library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html (last visited Jan. 3, 2018).https://www .cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html (last visited Jan. 3, 2018). 3 The two land-locked countries have agriculturally-based economies and are heavily dependent on Uganda and Tanzania for the transshipment of coffee, tea, and cotton for the © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389892_006 Counterterrorism Law and Practice in Burundi and Rwanda 183 and a fractured history involving political and economic grievances among competing groups that warrants a comparative analysis of how each country has addressed the same/similar ethnic issues. This also suggests that each country must consider in the situation in its neighbor when assessing its own counter-terrorism responses. This chapter considers the recent, difficult history of ethnic conflict in each country, to include how human rights abuses in each has impacted events in its neighbor. This is followed by a detailed review of first Burundian and then Rwandan counter-terrorism law and practice; this is followed by an analysis of the overall terrorism threat faced by each country, with recommendations for changes in national law. While there is limited empirical data (namely case law) about how each country enforces its laws, the reporting by international organizations, non-governmental organizations, academics and the press strongly suggests a major break-down in the rule of law in Burundi and significant shortcomings in Rwanda (e.g., issues with torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention). Burundi is likely on the precipice of non-international armed conflict with Tutsi groups conducting terrorist attacks and the Hutu-dominated government conducting state-sponsored terror attacks against its political opponents. The overall situation in Rwanda poses a less immediate threat to state stability, but still raises concerns about political accommodation and the rule of law. Both countries were ruled by traditional, local Tutsi monarchies during the pre-colonial period, followed by joint governance first by Germany after the 1884–85 Berlin Conference and then by Belgium under a League of Nations mandate after World War I until each achieved independence on July 1, 1962. Many observers estimate that the Hutu represent some 80 percent of the people in each country, each having an overall population of 12 million persons, with the remainder divided between the Tutsi (10–15 percent) and the Batwa (an isolated pygmy people representing perhaps one percent of the overall population in each country).4 Thus, it has been an existential struggle for political and economic power in each country between the Tutsi and the export market. CIA, The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the- world-factbook/geos/rw.html (last visited Jan. 3, 2018). This implies that both countries have a strong need for thorough integration in the East African market. But this also means that Uganda and Tanzania are well-positioned to enforce political and economic sanctions in the face of uncontrolled refugee flows from either Burundi or Rwanda. 4 See, for example, Godfrey Mwakikagile, Burundi: The Hutu and The Tutsi, Cauldron of Conflict and Quest for Dynamic Compromise (2012), 14; and Lemarchand, Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide, supra n.1, at 6..