Burundi is setting up a truth and reconciliation commission to examine the periodic violent social and political upheavals that have plagued the country since independence in 1962, a senior official said.
The aim of the 15-member commission is to ”reconcile Burundians” by identifying those guilty of committing crimes as well as the victims of past and current violence – including the ongoing civil war, Information Minister Albert Mbonerane told government-run Radio Burundi on Wednesday.
He said an August 2000 agreement among Burundi’s political parties that led to the establishment of a transitional government mandated the such a commission.
The agreement intended to end the country’s 9-year civil war provided for power-sharing between the minority Tutsis and majority Hutus in a transitional government that took office last November.
The agreement did not include a cease-fire, and Hutu rebels did not take part. Fighting continues, although one rebel faction is talking to government representatives in neighbouring Tanzania.
Commission members will be drawn from political parties and civil society groups and will be empowered to examine a wide range of evidence and will have free access to information, Mbonerane said. He did not elaborate.
Once the commission has concluded its work, it will draw up proposals on how to reconcile Burundians and compensate victims, he said.
He did not say when the commission will begin its work or how long it is expected to last.
The decision to set up the commission was made during a cabinet meeting Tuesday, Mbonerane said.
Since independence from Belgium, violence in Burundi has been endemic as rival groups of Tutsis have vied for power in an attempt to keep the Hutus from gaining control.
Tutsis, despite being in the minority, have effectively ruled Burundi for all but a few months since independence. The civil war – latest chapter in Burundi’s turbulent history – began in October 1993, after Tutsi paratroopers assassinated Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu and the country’s first democratically elected president. – Sapa-AP