00:00:19:08 , 00:00:25:11 , Toulouse (France), October 2008
00:00:25:11 , 00:00:28:22 , - I come from a very small country called Burundi
00:00:29:00 , 00:00:31:13 , is in the middle of Africa,
00:00:31:16 , 00:00:33:08 , a bit east,
00:00:33:11 , 00:00:37:06 , which makes this country the heart of Africa
00:00:37:09 , 00:00:40:16 , but there aren’t many people who know this country.
00:00:45:03 , 00:00:49:02 , I was born in Kamenge, in the north of Bujumbura,
00:00:47:16 , 00:00:57:16 , Alexis Sinduhije
Journalist and Politician
00:00:49:05 , 00:00:52:05 , it is a very, very poor quarter.
00:00:52:08 , 00:00:56:08 , I never thought I would leave Kamenge,
00:00:56:11 , 00:00:59:12 , but I have been gently forced to leave it,
00:00:59:15 , 00:01:02:17 , it was my childhood friends
00:01:02:20 , 00:01:04:01 , hutu
00:01:04:04 , 00:01:07:10 , who told me I had to leave
00:01:07:14 , 00:01:11:20 , because they didn’t want to see me die in Kamenge.
00:01:14:12 , 00:01:17:10 , The situation is not good in Burundi,
00:01:17:13 , 00:01:21:18 , it is really hard to leave in a situation of fear, panic
00:01:21:21 , 00:01:23:07 , and of frustration because
00:01:23:10 , 00:01:26:10 , I experience frustrations every day down there.
00:02:19:01 , 00:02:22:20 , - Kacha-Pari, the life we have here in Bujumbura,
00:02:23:01 , 00:02:25:17 , always fighting to survive, is hard.
00:02:25:21 , 00:02:29:11 , - If we find something we eat and otherwise we hold on.
00:02:29:14 , 00:02:33:22 , - We did everything to study but there are no jobs,
00:02:34:00 , 00:02:37:10 , some people keep making war
00:02:37:22 , 00:02:43:10 , and politicians promised us peace in order to be voted
00:02:43:13 , 00:02:46:23 , but they misled us, people keep dying.
00:02:47:01 , 00:02:49:13 , - We must not meddle in politics,
00:02:49:16 , 00:02:51:04 , we are still young.
00:02:51:07 , 00:02:55:14 , - How will we manage to survive?
- We are the simple people.
00:03:02:03 , 00:03:05:03 , - The town of Bujumbura itself
00:03:04:18 , 00:03:13:01 , JeanMarie Ngendahayo
Former minister of the Frodebu party
00:03:05:06 , 00:03:10:00 , has nearly 600/700 thousand inhabitants nowadays
00:03:10:04 , 00:03:15:03 , and at least 1/3 lives in the Northern Quarters.
00:03:27:04 , 00:03:29:17 , - Today we are still frightened,
00:03:29:20 , 00:03:32:12 , a country that has just gone out of war
00:03:32:20 , 00:03:35:04 , war has not finished yet,
00:03:35:07 , 00:03:36:16 , we have to know that
00:03:36:19 , 00:03:38:21 , we are still frightened.
00:03:38:24 , 00:03:41:12 , - We started to believe
00:03:41:15 , 00:03:43:11 , peace would come back
00:03:43:14 , 00:03:47:05 , but now it’s starting again, murders nearly everywhere,
00:03:47:08 , 00:03:49:20 , we don’t know who kills the other,
00:03:49:23 , 00:03:54:21 , the problems we have are poverty, lack of jobs…
00:03:56:13 , 00:03:59:04 , - The Northern Quarters are generally the poor quarters,
00:03:59:07 , 00:04:01:01 , where young people live,
00:04:01:04 , 00:04:05:00 , that were the breeding ground of violence
00:04:05:03 , 00:04:08:18 , for the politicians of both sides,
00:04:08:23 , 00:04:13:14 , they are the quarters which have been more exploited
00:04:13:17 , 00:04:17:01 , for violence and fight.
00:04:17:01 , 00:04:25:03 , Claudio Marano
Responsible for the Kamenge Youth Center
00:04:17:04 , 00:04:21:04 , - The city “delegated” the Northern Quarters to make war
00:04:21:07 , 00:04:25:13 , it was fought only here not in the other parts of the city.
00:04:25:16 , 00:04:29:08 , So the Center was turned into a peace laboratory
00:04:29:11 , 00:04:33:12 , where we carry out activities in order to build up
00:04:33:15 , 00:04:35:20 , a different society in the quarters,
00:04:35:23 , 00:04:39:23 , the Northern Quarters, 50% hutu and 50% tutsi,
00:04:40:01 , 00:04:42:16 , we work here saying:
00:04:42:19 , 00:04:47:02 , “If we unite we’ll manage to do great things”.
00:05:02:10 , 00:05:04:00 , - How are the children?
00:05:04:02 , 00:05:05:03 , - Fine
00:05:07:10 , 00:05:08:15 , - What's up?
00:05:25:02 , 00:05:27:05 , - "We are still fighting".
00:05:27:11 , 00:05:30:07 , You have written:”Now that we are still fighting”.
00:05:30:10 , 00:05:33:10 , - It’s another refrain you can say like this.
00:05:33:15 , 00:05:35:03 , Here is Rap:
00:05:35:06 , 00:05:37:05 , "The pain and the tears that";
00:05:37:08 , 00:05:39:07 , "we have experienced and that still now"
00:05:39:10 , 00:05:41:11 , - "That still now we keep experiencing"
00:05:41:14 , 00:05:42:20 , - Still
00:05:42:23 , 00:05:43:23 , now
00:05:44:01 , 00:05:45:16 , - We keep experiencing
00:05:45:19 , 00:05:47:12 , - We keep
00:05:47:15 , 00:05:49:02 , ex
00:05:49:07 , 00:05:50:04 , pe
00:05:50:07 , 00:05:51:03 , rien
00:05:51:06 , 00:05:52:10 , cing.
00:05:52:14 , 00:05:55:12 , - Is it okay like this?
- Let’s say it again
00:05:55:17 , 00:06:00:00 , Write it twice, we’ll repeat it twice.
00:06:14:24 , 00:06:18:23 , - My partner and my children live here in Toulouse
00:06:19:01 , 00:06:22:16 , and I come and see them regularly
00:06:22:19 , 00:06:24:17 , and I stay with them
00:06:25:02 , 00:06:27:00 , because I need them
00:06:28:00 , 00:06:30:20 , and I think they need me too.
00:06:36:04 , 00:06:40:18 , Living in Burundi with them living in Toulouse
00:06:40:21 , 00:06:45:15 , is a bit hard but we have to do like this.
00:06:45:18 , 00:06:49:13 , - I met him in Burundi some years ago
00:06:48:03 , 00:07:01:09 , Christele Amigues
Alexis's partner
00:06:49:22 , 00:06:52:14 , and we had a child,
00:06:52:17 , 00:06:57:22 , then I stayed in Toulouse where I live at the moment.
00:06:58:18 , 00:07:02:04 , We thought we would move to Burundi
00:07:02:07 , 00:07:06:12 , then Alexis created his movement,
00:07:06:15 , 00:07:10:11 , and it became more difficult for us to go back to Burundi
00:07:10:16 , 00:07:13:23 , because the situation is a bit tense.
00:07:15:16 , 00:07:20:14 , - All the time there are situations of threats, of death,
00:07:21:03 , 00:07:24:24 , I think our country has been built on lies
00:07:25:05 , 00:07:28:17 , and these lies caused what I would define as
00:07:28:20 , 00:07:31:01 , racism among the Africans themselves,
00:07:31:04 , 00:07:33:17 , racism among the Burundian themselves.
00:07:41:19 , 00:07:47:06 , Kamenge Quarter (Burundi)
00:07:52:16 , 00:07:56:15 , - Hi mum, how are you?
- Hi, more or less fine
00:07:56:18 , 00:07:59:07 , - Mister Cyprian you look sad
00:07:59:10 , 00:08:00:24 , - Not really
00:08:01:02 , 00:08:04:21 , - Mum, I heard some shots earlier
00:08:04:24 , 00:08:07:00 , - Are you frightened of shots?
00:08:07:03 , 00:08:08:19 , - Brother, did you hear them?
00:08:08:22 , 00:08:11:11 , - Yes I heard them but they don’t scare me
00:08:11:14 , 00:08:14:23 , we hear them every day, as usual.
00:08:15:01 , 00:08:17:18 , - Mum did you hear them? They were at least 10 shots!
00:08:17:21 , 00:08:20:11 , - We have already heard lots
00:08:20:24 , 00:08:23:13 , - No, I can’t stand the sound of shots
00:08:23:16 , 00:08:26:13 , - You’ll get used to it
- Getting used to the sound of shots?
00:08:26:16 , 00:08:28:15 , - We have already seen many things
00:08:28:18 , 00:08:31:11 , - Where do you want to go, where there are no shots?
00:08:31:16 , 00:08:34:17 , - I have never heard shooting in Tanzania,
00:08:34:20 , 00:08:37:05 , mum, they shot so much there in the street
00:08:37:08 , 00:08:41:03 , - You can’t imagine what we experienced here in Burundi.
00:08:46:22 , 00:08:50:20 , - There are people who come here and wonder:
00:08:50:24 , 00:08:53:08 , “Recently some people have been killed but”
00:08:53:01 , 00:09:04:14 , Patrick Didier
Kamenge Inhabitant
00:08:53:14 , 00:08:57:00 , “I see that people of the quarters”
00:08:57:10 , 00:09:00:05 , “aren’t frightened, why?”
00:09:00:08 , 00:09:01:19 , It’s because
00:09:01:22 , 00:09:05:15 , we’ve been fighting for more than 15 years.
00:09:23:17 , 00:09:32:11 , April 1993 - Electoral speech of Pierre Buyoya, President
of Burundi and candidate of the tutsi party Uprona.
00:09:32:12 , 00:09:35:00 , - The ones who criticize us
00:09:35:03 , 00:09:37:05 , know the truth,
00:09:37:08 , 00:09:40:08 , they know everything we have done for Burundi.
00:09:40:14 , 00:09:43:20 , The government of the party Uprona,
00:09:43:23 , 00:09:45:12 , has worked well
00:09:45:15 , 00:09:48:19 , and the population as well as the International Community
00:09:48:22 , 00:09:52:16 , praised us for our unity and peace program.
00:09:53:01 , 00:09:54:22 , - Buyoya! Buyoya!
00:09:55:00 , 00:09:56:10 , - Who will you vote for?
00:09:56:13 , 00:09:58:10 , - Buyoya! Buyoya!
00:09:58:16 , 00:10:01:11 , - Buyoya, you will definitely win!
00:10:01:19 , 00:10:05:14 , - After the independence the Tutsi had the power
00:10:05:14 , 00:10:17:11 , Jeff Riragonya
Ngagara Inhabitant
00:10:05:18 , 00:10:08:15 , and the hutu thought that it should change,
00:10:08:18 , 00:10:11:20 , that also the hutu should rise to power,
00:10:11:23 , 00:10:17:11 , until they persuaded the majority with their ideas.
00:10:17:17 , 00:10:23:01 , - I became a member of a political party
00:10:18:21 , 00:10:31:17 , JeanMarie Ngendahayo
Former minister of the Frodebu party
00:10:23:19 , 00:10:26:10 , which was the Frodebu at the time
00:10:26:13 , 00:10:30:03 , which opposed the power in force
00:10:30:07 , 00:10:33:07 , politically embodied in the Uprona.
00:10:33:07 , 00:10:41:16 , April 1993 - Electoral speech of Melchior Ndadaye,
candidate of the hutu party Frodebu.
00:10:41:16 , 00:10:44:02 , - Those people who tell you
00:10:44:05 , 00:10:47:19 , that if you don’t vote the Uprona war will break out,
00:10:47:22 , 00:10:50:13 , they say this to threaten you.
00:10:50:20 , 00:10:52:23 , Will they start making war
00:10:53:01 , 00:10:57:21 , against more than 5 million Burundians who want peace?
00:10:58:19 , 00:11:01:03 , If they do it, if they light this fire
00:11:01:06 , 00:11:03:24 , there are 5 million of us and we will put it out
00:11:04:02 , 00:11:07:21 , and after stopping them, we will send them to prison.
00:11:09:00 , 00:11:12:06 , Hold on Frodebu!
00:11:12:09 , 00:11:14:22 , Frodebu, up!
00:11:15:00 , 00:11:17:00 , Up!
00:11:17:24 , 00:11:20:07 , - We entered the competition
00:11:20:10 , 00:11:26:11 , and we won the elections in June 1993
00:11:26:23 , 00:11:30:16 , led by President Melchior Ndadaye.
00:11:30:16 , 00:11:40:24 , July 10th, 1993 - Melchior Ndadaye wins the elections
and becomes the first hutu President of Burundi.
00:11:40:24 , 00:11:46:15 , - In 1993 the first hutu President was elected.
00:11:47:00 , 00:11:49:11 , And there were people,
00:11:49:14 , 00:11:52:06 , the former leaders, who didn’t want
00:11:52:13 , 00:11:55:04 , a hutu to be the one to get the power.
00:11:55:09 , 00:11:58:17 , - As all the power in Burundi was
00:11:58:20 , 00:12:01:00 , based on the army,
00:12:01:03 , 00:12:03:06 , and the army was monoethnic,
00:12:03:11 , 00:12:08:12 , it was obvious that they would not stand that situation for long.
00:12:09:05 , 00:12:10:17 , How much time
00:12:10:20 , 00:12:12:20 , would they give the President of the Republic
00:12:12:23 , 00:12:15:20 , who was a hutu and couldn't defend himself?
00:12:16:13 , 00:12:20:01 , - Then the Burundian army of that time,
00:12:20:14 , 00:12:25:08 , supported by a whole political class
00:12:25:14 , 00:12:29:22 , that didn’t have the power any more but was the opposition,
00:12:30:00 , 00:12:33:03 , opposed the new power
00:12:33:18 , 00:12:36:09 , and the army massacred basically
00:12:36:12 , 00:12:40:10 , all the democratic leading group that had just been elected.
00:12:40:10 , 00:12:49:21 , During the night of October 20th, 1993, members of the army
kidnap and murder President Melchior Ndadaye.
00:12:49:21 , 00:12:51:24 , - The tutsi acted in advance
00:12:52:02 , 00:12:54:09 , because they knew that the President
00:12:54:12 , 00:12:57:14 , was preparing a genocide against the tutsi
00:12:57:17 , 00:13:02:05 , and as they were the majority of the army,
00:13:02:12 , 00:13:04:12 , the tutsi murdered the President.
00:13:04:15 , 00:13:07:10 , That’s what is said, I don’t know if it is true but
00:13:07:13 , 00:13:09:22 , we have been talking a lot about this.
00:13:10:03 , 00:13:12:24 , - Then some politicians said:
00:13:13:02 , 00:13:17:16 , "Be careful because they killed your President."
00:13:17:19 , 00:13:20:11 , "Defend yourselves if they attack you".
00:13:20:17 , 00:13:23:09 , The hutu population was told that,
00:13:23:14 , 00:13:26:22 , but at the same time it was said to the tutsi population:
00:13:27:00 , 00:13:31:18 , "Defend yourselves if they attack you".
00:13:35:07 , 00:13:37:06 , - What happened then?
00:13:37:09 , 00:13:40:23 , The people were forced to run away,
00:13:40:12 , 00:13:52:18 , Claudio Marano
Responsible for the Kamenge Youth Center
00:13:41:01 , 00:13:44:14 , the people had to organize themselves,
00:13:44:17 , 00:13:48:14 , to defend themselves, to leave their home
00:13:48:17 , 00:13:51:11 , and to move to areas which
00:13:51:18 , 00:13:54:14 , had been abandoned.
00:13:56:15 , 00:14:00:03 , - At the time I used to live in Cibitoke
00:14:00:08 , 00:14:03:15 , and then one day they said to us:
00:14:01:20 , 00:14:15:16 , Fabiola Kwizera
Kamenge Inhabitant
00:14:03:24 , 00:14:07:12 , "The hutu must go to a hutu quarter"
00:14:07:19 , 00:14:10:06 , "and the tutsi will stay in this quarter."
00:14:10:10 , 00:14:13:02 , So all the hutu, the congolese,
00:14:13:05 , 00:14:15:16 , we went to Kamenge.
00:14:15:22 , 00:14:17:23 , - We are tutsi
00:14:18:03 , 00:14:21:03 , and in Kamenge they killed a lot of tutsi
00:14:21:14 , 00:14:24:10 , so we felt forced to escape
00:14:24:16 , 00:14:29:03 , to come to Ngagara, because it was where the tutsi were staying
00:14:29:16 , 00:14:34:01 , and it was where we felt much safer.
00:14:39:03 , 00:14:41:15 , - When the crisis broke out,
00:14:41:18 , 00:14:44:12 , these districts got "balkanized",
00:14:44:15 , 00:14:47:05 , this means that where more tutsi lived,
00:14:47:08 , 00:14:48:23 , the hutu were chased away
00:14:49:01 , 00:14:52:07 , and where more hutu lived, the tutsi were chased away.
00:14:52:18 , 00:14:56:21 , When I say "chased away" it is kind, they were killed.
00:15:00:15 , 00:15:02:20 , - After the death of the President
00:15:02:23 , 00:15:05:20 , the hutu rised up
00:15:06:02 , 00:15:08:21 , and they started massacring the tutsi.
00:15:09:09 , 00:15:12:07 , - As hutu population, we started defending ourselves,
00:15:12:10 , 00:15:15:12 , it was the war, the beginning of the rebellion.
00:15:15:23 , 00:15:18:21 , We started defending ourselves, promoting
00:15:19:00 , 00:15:22:06 , the hutu ethnic group all over Burundi.
00:15:23:06 , 00:15:26:21 , - It was easier for the young tutsi to kill the hutu
00:15:26:24 , 00:15:31:04 , because they were supported by the army and the police
00:15:31:10 , 00:15:36:13 , and this generated absolute fury among the hutu population,
00:15:36:16 , 00:15:39:23 , and there where they live in Kamenge,
00:15:40:02 , 00:15:43:18 , they too lashed out at the tutsi
00:15:43:21 , 00:15:46:13 , and barbarically murdered them.
00:15:47:06 , 00:15:51:00 , - So they fought each other, moving from the hutu quarters
00:15:51:03 , 00:15:54:00 , to the tutsi quarters shooting and killing
00:15:54:03 , 00:15:57:24 , and moving from the tutsi quarters to the hutu quarters
00:15:58:02 , 00:16:00:23 , shooting and killing.
00:16:01:18 , 00:16:04:07 , - Wherever you went there were dead bodies,
00:16:04:10 , 00:16:07:12 , when the war started in Kamenge
00:16:07:15 , 00:16:10:24 , the army came to massacre us.
00:16:11:04 , 00:16:14:11 , To massacre not just to kill.
00:16:22:13 , 00:16:25:07 , - The soldiers started to massacre the people,
00:16:25:11 , 00:16:28:07 , my father was closing the door
00:16:28:10 , 00:16:31:13 , when the soldiers found him
00:16:32:05 , 00:16:35:11 , and they massacred him.
00:16:39:07 , 00:16:41:04 , That’s all.
00:16:41:16 , 00:16:43:13 , It's like this.
00:16:58:20 , 00:17:02:12 , - Mum, what was it like?
- When they started to shoot
00:17:02:15 , 00:17:05:07 , you just dropped everything and ran to save yourself,
00:17:05:10 , 00:17:07:22 , if you were cooking and you heard shots
00:17:08:00 , 00:17:10:09 , you didn't have time, not even to pick up your children.
00:17:10:12 , 00:17:12:08 , We passed over bodies
00:17:12:11 , 00:17:15:12 , - Mum, did you walk on dead bodies?
00:17:15:17 , 00:17:18:23 , - In all the holes at the market there were dead bodies,
00:17:19:01 , 00:17:21:14 , the dogs ate until they got tired.
00:17:21:17 , 00:17:24:04 , - Really many, many people died.
00:17:24:07 , 00:17:27:04 , - We thank God that we are still alive.
00:17:27:13 , 00:17:28:21 , -You know, Alexis
00:17:29:03 , 00:17:31:24 , if the people died
00:17:32:03 , 00:17:36:14 , it was for the ethnic conflict,
00:17:38:02 , 00:17:40:21 , they started to fight for power
00:17:40:24 , 00:17:44:13 , and to obtain it they used the different ethnic groups.
00:17:45:21 , 00:17:49:02 , - According to the census taken at the end of the war,
00:17:49:05 , 00:17:52:19 , 300,000 people were killed
00:17:52:22 , 00:17:56:18 , and 2 million out of 7 had to run away
00:17:56:21 , 00:18:02:17 , as internal and external refugees, a big destruction then.
00:18:02:21 , 00:18:08:03 , Here in the Northern Quarters some areas were destroyed 8 times
00:18:08:07 , 00:18:12:22 , and Kamenge had to begin all over again 8 times
00:18:13:04 , 00:18:18:23 , and had to rebuild what had been destroyed 8 times.
00:18:52:10 , 00:18:55:02 , - In 2005 there were the elections
00:18:55:05 , 00:18:58:13 , and we all hoped
00:19:00:05 , 00:19:03:06 , the society would get democratic,
00:19:03:11 , 00:19:06:14 , but the problem is that
00:19:06:17 , 00:19:11:14 , the ones who were fighting for democracy are military
00:19:11:17 , 00:19:14:16 , and they think as soldiers.
00:19:19:01 , 00:19:30:10 , In 2005 after the end of fighting the elections are held,
Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the hutu rebellion CNDD, wins.
00:19:36:12 , 00:19:38:14 , - What’s going on today?
00:19:38:17 , 00:19:42:19 , The present situation is even worse than at the time of the war.
00:19:42:23 , 00:19:44:12 , This is what people say
00:19:44:15 , 00:19:47:02 , not because they are against the government
00:19:47:05 , 00:19:49:03 , but because reality is like that.
00:19:49:07 , 00:19:52:12 , - When we elected the present government
00:19:52:22 , 00:19:56:17 , the main priority was to disarm the population
00:19:56:20 , 00:19:59:01 , who hasn’t been disarmed yet,
00:19:59:04 , 00:20:01:23 , this provokes many killings in the quarters.
00:20:02:01 , 00:20:04:09 , - Every day we hear about killing,
00:20:04:15 , 00:20:08:00 , we hear that they have killed here and there,
00:20:08:03 , 00:20:10:08 , some men, some women in the neighbourhoods,
00:20:10:13 , 00:20:12:00 , really
00:20:12:18 , 00:20:14:12 , safety
00:20:15:07 , 00:20:19:07 , these days is very dangerous.
00:20:19:07 , 00:20:25:07 , Cibitoke Quarter (Burundi)
00:20:25:17 , 00:20:28:18 , - There are policemen everywhere
00:20:28:21 , 00:20:31:21 , and yet there are still continuous thefts and murders.
00:20:31:24 , 00:20:34:24 , - There is no longer a war but there are still problems.
00:20:35:02 , 00:20:37:15 , - We hear shots in the houses and streets nearby,
00:20:37:18 , 00:20:39:09 , mainly during the night