The country was basically without any legitimate government and in anarchy. The ethnic violence made it impossible for the presidential office to be filled. Due to some international pressure from the United Nations Security Council, things finally calmed down and the army was recalled to its barracks. February 11, 1994 Cyprien Ntaryamira, a Hutu, assumed the office of presidency.
Unfortunately, on April 6, 1994, Ntaryamira was killed along with the Hutu president of Rwanda, when Rwandan Tutsis' rocket fire shot down the airplane they were travelling in over Kigali, Rwanda. Surprisingly enough, this led to no bloodshed within Burundi; however, it sparked the wave of ethnic violence that is still going on today in Rwanda between the Hutus and Tutsis.
A power sharing accord was reached in September of that year between the two tribes. A Hutu, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, led a weak coalition of Hutus and Tutsis, and became president. He was forced to sign an agreement that suspended the 1992 constitution, and the mechanisms that replaced it basically annhilated the electoral victories of Frodubu, the Hutu party ("Tutsi Army...," NYT June 7, '95). This angered the Hutus who felt that they weren't getting a fair share of power, while the Tutsis felt that their traditional power base was threatened. The predominantly Tutsi army continued to play an active role in politics which strongly discouraged active Hutu involvment in government (Tutsi and Hutu...," Econ., Jl 22, '95).
Most recently the army has clashed with armed Hutu groups inside the capital and throughout the countryside. Many small massacres by both sides have occured often unreported. The conflict has basically escalated into a full-scale civil war with battles between the Tutsi army and the rebel Hutu forces predominantly around the capital, and in areas to the north and most recently to the south along the Tanzanian border ("New Burundi Battles...," NYT, Nov. 24, 95). This conflict has continued up to today with no forseeable end.
Copyright © 1996, Liz Davnie, Anthea Hasler, and Jon Spencer.