History of Burundi - Post-war

Post-war

Former President Domitien Ndayizeye and his political supporters were arrested in 2006 and accused of plotting a coup, but later he was acquitted by the Supreme Court. International human rights groups claimed that the current government was framing Domitien Ndayizeye by torturing him into false confessions of a coup plot. Along with these accusations, in December 2006 the International Crisis Group labeled Burundi’s government with a “deteriorating” status in its treatment of human rights. The organization reported that the government had arrested critics, muzzled the press, committed human rights abuses, and tightened its control over the economy, and that "unless it this authoritarian course, it risk triggering violent unrest and losing the gains of peace process."

In February 2007, the U.N. officially shut down its peacekeeping operations in Burundi and turned its attention to rebuilding the nation’s economy, which relies heavily on tea and coffee, but suffered severely during 12 years of civil war. The U.N. had deployed 5,600 peacekeepers since 2004, and several hundred troops remained to work with the African Union in monitoring the ceasefire. The U.N. donated $35 million to Burundi to work on infrastructure, to promote democratic practices, to rebuild the military, and to defend human rights.

SOS Children, an NGO, uses HIV testing and prevention strategies, counseling, de-stigmatization, antiretroviral drugs and condoms to combat AIDS. Sample testing had shown that those who were HIV positive were 20 percent of the urban population and 6% of the rural population. Nevertheless, the death toll due to the syndrome has been devastating: the UN estimated 25,000 deaths in 2001 and Oxfam estimated 45,000 deaths in 2003.

Reaching a stable compromise on post-transition power sharing was difficult. Although a post-transition constitution was approved in September 2004, it was approved over a boycott by the Tutsi parties. In addition, the Arusha Peace Agreement mandated that local and national elections be held before the ending of the transitional period on 31 October 2004, but transitional institutions were extended. On 28 February 2005, however, Burundians popularly approved a post-transitional constitution by national referendum, with elections set to take place throughout the summer of 2005. After local, parliamentary, and other elections in June and July, on 19 August 2005, the good governance minister, Pierre Nkurunziza, became the first post-transitional president.