{ "id": "R44018", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44018", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 463174, "date": "2017-08-07", "retrieved": "2017-08-22T13:33:15.880949", "title": "Burundi\u2019s Political Crisis: In Brief", "summary": "This report provides context on the political crisis in Burundi, which is rooted in President Pierre Nkurunziza\u2019s decision to run for a third term in 2015, in violation of a landmark peace accord. The crisis has spurred a low-intensity conflict and serious human rights violations, sparking a refugee influx into neighboring states and undermining Burundi\u2019s hard-won stability following a civil war in the 1990s. Coinciding with a parallel stand-off over term limits in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the situation in Burundi has implications for longstanding U.S. efforts to promote peace in central Africa\u2019s Great Lakes region. It may also impact whether Burundian troops continue to participate in the U.S.-supported regional military operation in Somalia aimed at countering the Al Qaeda-linked group Al Shabaab. Additional potential issues for Congress include the authorization, appropriation, and oversight of any new U.S. funding in support of humanitarian aid, stabilization, and/or civilian protection efforts. \nNkurunziza\u2019s ultimately successful third-term bid provoked large protests, an opposition boycott, and a failed military coup d\u2019\u00e9tat in 2015. Since then, regime hardliners have cracked down on dissent, while some opposition figures have sought to mobilize an armed rebellion from outside the country. Many civil society, independent media, and political opposition groups now operate either clandestinely or in exile. Tit-for-tat assassinations have targeted prominent figures on both sides of the political divide. The security forces and ruling party youth wing have been implicated in politically motivated killings, disappearances, torture, and sexual violence. The military, previously viewed as a successful model of post-conflict ethnic integration and donor-backed professionalization, appears increasingly fractured. Already one of the world\u2019s poorest countries, Burundi has seen its economy contract due to instability, government policies, and donor aid restrictions. Food insecurity has expanded and the health system has been badly weakened.\nA worst-case scenario in Burundi, which could involve a return to civil war, large-scale atrocities, intractable ethnic polarization, and/or a spillover of conflict into the tense surrounding region, has not materialized. Yet international mediation efforts aimed at achieving a political settlement and averting a full-blown crisis have stalled. One reason is that key regional leaders now appear inclined to view Nkurunziza\u2019s continued tenure as preferable to alternatives. The next round of elections, slated for 2020, could spark new violence, particularly if Nkurunziza runs again. The president, a former rebel leader, remains popular, by many accounts, among his rural ethnic Hutu constituency. Opposition nonetheless spans Burundi\u2019s ethnic divide between majority Hutu (estimated at 85% of the population) and minority Tutsi (estimated at 14%) communities\u2014notably splitting the Hutu-led ruling party. Ruling party efforts to amend the constitution to further undo principles of power-sharing and ethnic balance could also prove destabilizing. \nThe 114th Congress held multiple hearings to examine the situation in Burundi and trends in the wider Great Lakes region. Congress has also influenced U.S. policy toward Burundi through its authorization and appropriation of foreign aid. The full extent of the Trump Administration\u2019s approach to Burundi and the region remains to be seen, but statements by U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Nikki Haley suggest some degree of continuity with the Obama Administration\u2019s emphasis on human rights concerns and regional diplomatic engagement. The Trump Administration\u2019s FY2018 budget proposal would decrease bilateral health and economic assistance for Burundi, along with funding for global humanitarian and food aid programs of which Burundi has been a recipient. The Administration has not announced plans to alter a 2015 Executive Order that authorizes targeted sanctions in Burundi, or the 2015 suspension of Burundi\u2019s eligibility for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). U.S. logistical support for Burundian troops serving in Somalia has also continued, along with a suspension of U.S. pre-deployment training and equipment programs within Burundi.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44018", "sha1": "a4037611dabe5ff886c5a6dac1e3d8dc8995e29d", "filename": "files/20170807_R44018_a4037611dabe5ff886c5a6dac1e3d8dc8995e29d.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44018_files&id=/0.png": "files/20170807_R44018_images_6f524530f295ecca26dffc4a508ea540d392642f.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44018", "sha1": "6833397aa8c6010b38065abb1f28a53f291a11cc", "filename": "files/20170807_R44018_6833397aa8c6010b38065abb1f28a53f291a11cc.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4879, "name": "Sub-Saharan Africa" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 447735, "date": "2015-11-24", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T17:52:08.193649", "title": "Burundi\u2019s Political Crisis", "summary": "This report provides context on the political crisis in Burundi, which has sparked a refugee influx into neighboring states and prompted international concerns about instability. The evolving situation has implications for U.S. efforts to promote peace and stability in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. It may also impact whether Burundian troops continue to participate in the U.S.-supported regional military operation in Somalia aimed at countering the Al Qaeda-linked group Al Shabaab. Other potential issues for Congress may include the authorization, appropriation, and oversight of any new U.S. funding in support of humanitarian aid, stabilization, and/or civilian protection efforts in Burundi and neighboring countries. \nThe Obama Administration has portrayed its approach to Burundi as an example of its policy to seek to prevent \u201cmass atrocities\u201d abroad, and of its opposition to efforts by some African presidents to violate legally established term limits. Despite Burundi\u2019s small size and what some may view as marginal importance to U.S. foreign policy, several senior U.S. officials have traveled to Burundi in 2014 and 2015 and expressed serious concerns about human rights violations and the country\u2019s political trajectory.\nThe proximate cause for the current crisis was President Pierre Nkurunziza\u2019s decision to run for a third term in office, which he won in July 2015, although Burundi\u2019s governance and development challenges run far deeper. Nkurunziza\u2019s third term bid contravened a landmark peace deal, known as the Arusha Accords, credited with ending Burundi\u2019s 1990s-early 2000s civil war. The July vote was marred by violence and an opposition boycott. There have been targeted assassinations in subsequent months, as well as reports of over 200 extra-judicial killings, many attributed to the security forces. Successive regional and United Nations-led mediation efforts have stalled, prompting debate over whether greater international intervention is needed. \nBurundi is one of the poorest countries in the world. As in neighboring Rwanda, its population includes a majority Hutu community (estimated at 85%) and minority Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%) communities. Much of Burundi\u2019s post-colonial history has been characterized by political instability, military interference in politics, and ethnic violence. Inter-ethnic tensions persist, although opposition to Nkurunziza spans the ethnic divide and has split the Hutu-led ruling party and Hutu senior officers in the military. In the mid-2000s, following the Arusha Accords, Burundi saw relative stability. However, the country\u2019s experience of inclusive democracy was short, and decision-making by top political actors is shaped by their past experience as combatants. Elections in 2010 were marred by political violence and an opposition boycott. In their aftermath, the government harassed and jailed prominent opposition, civil society, and media leaders. \nU.S. bilateral aid for Burundi, totaling an estimated $46 million in FY2015, is overwhelmingly focused on health and food aid, although additional funds were allocated in FY2015 for elections support and conflict mitigation efforts. The United States has also provided significant military assistance to build Burundi\u2019s capacity to conduct counterterrorism and peacekeeping operations since 2007, when Burundi began contributing troops to the then-newly created African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Such aid has been administered by both the State Department and the Department of Defense (DOD). DOD programs have been conducted under legislation enacted by Congress over the past decade that authorizes DOD to train and equip foreign militaries for counterterrorism, including P.L. 113-291 (Section 2282), P.L. 112-239 (Section 1203), P.L. 112-81 (Section 1207[n]), and P.L. 109-163 (Section 1206).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44018", "sha1": "9eca4d75a6abdce7a51193a78d591fff8f499f9d", "filename": "files/20151124_R44018_9eca4d75a6abdce7a51193a78d591fff8f499f9d.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44018", "sha1": "e6793aca773656bffca35673576fe9907512e230", "filename": "files/20151124_R44018_e6793aca773656bffca35673576fe9907512e230.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 276, "name": "Sub-Saharan Africa" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc816100/", "id": "R44018_2015May14", "date": "2015-05-14", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Burundi\u2019s Electoral Crisis: In Brief", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150514_R44018_22c6ab9ec4d3e8c4d5b997664ef1236557d48bf7.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150514_R44018_22c6ab9ec4d3e8c4d5b997664ef1236557d48bf7.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "African Affairs", "Foreign Affairs", "National Defense" ] }