Conseil: ce poste n’a pas

Jeanvierre Nibafasha certainly doesn’t fit the stereotype of a former rebel. She is highly educated, a middle-aged lawyer working in Bujumbura. But she is able to offer me a different perspective on the war; rather than fighting in the bush, between 1994 and 2004 she helped the rebels by passing them information that she was able to acquire through her privileged position as a student and then lawyer in Bujumbura. She is reticent on how she acquired this information, attributing it to ’smart conversation’ – but tells me that the work was dangerous; had she been caught she would have been treated as a member of the rebels and liable to imprisonment, torture or execution. But she did it because she saw justice in the campaign.

Since the war, reactions to what she did have been mixed; some people called her a killer, while others congratulated her. But she has not faced significant problems, especially as she protected people – she is insistent that the information she passed related in the main to proposed attacks on civilians. But she felt like a former combatant, and felt that her skills could help CEDAC’s mission to build a better Burundi, so she joined the organisation and is now the Executive Secretary of its women’s programme. She uses this position to help other women ex-combatants, many of whom suffered in the field, and are in vulnerable positions; they may have been rejected by their husbands, or their husbands may have been killed, and their children may be in an awkward position, particularly those born in the bush, whose fathers may not be identifiable. Their problems are exacerbated by widespread illiteracy among women, making it difficult for them to access and understand their rights.

CEDAC can help these women through advice, legal and otherwise, and assistance in claiming their rights. They are helping women understand how to take themselves through life without their husbands, by forming support groups of women. Through this, they help them develop means of supporting themselves without turning to prostitution, something that is common among ex-combatant women, and is linked with rising AIDS infection rates, particularly in the cities*. She says that this work appeals to both sides of her character; her lawyer’s wish to promote justice, and her wish to support other women. Asked about her hope for the future, she says that she hopes that women ex-combatants can live like others, with the ex-combatant spirit extinguished, and expresses her belief that CEDAC can make a huge contribution to peace, showing that it is possible to make a difference with neither money nor power; nothing except a vision of peace.

* The wife of a friend works on the World Bank’s AIDS programme in Burundi, and tells me that current infection rates are around 2.5% in the country, and 9% in Bujumbura, but particularly the latter figure is rising fast.

I have heard a lot about Arcade Habiyambere before I meet him. A former member of the FNL, he is the leader of CEDAC’s latest member organisation, AJIEC, representing most of the former FNL fighters Eric Uwimana told me about – those who were neither incorporated into the regular army, or demobilised receiving demobilisation packages.

Arcade joined the rebellion in 1997, when he was just 13. His father had been killed by Tutsis, and he feared the same fate. But he ended up committing atrocities of his own – killing people and burning homes. He saw friends killed, including in a disastrous attack on the airport when they attacked with 4,000 men and left with only 2,700. He was also wounded several times – he shows me the scar on his leg. Gradually he realised that it was the population who were suffering, and that the movement’s objectives no longer existed. As a result, the movement began to see the need for peace, and moved to join the peace.

For Arcade, however, this participation is seen as a failure. As the government pleaded limited means, only 3,500 soldiers were integrated into the army, and 5,000 demobilised; the unlucky, such as Arcade, received only a pair of sandals, their clothes, and 100,000 Francs – which wasn’t always paid. As he says himself: how could they return to their families like that – if they even had a family to return to. The money should have been divided fairly, he says, or not at all. This situation is exacerbated for those, like him, who began fighting as children; they have had no opportunity to gain education or skills (see that piece of Blattman research again!).

Arcade was motivated to act when he realised the treat this situation posed to peace, when he and other former comrades were approached by politicians and asked to destabilise their communities for political purposes. He refused, and formed AJIEC to advocate for better options for his members – including training, help in returning to school, and help in starting small businesses. Without this, he says – probably accurately – that the ranks of disillusioned, optionless former FNL, is a time bomb.

His organisation has existed for only two months, but has already acquired more than 11,000 members and some media exposure – the day before he talks to me Arcade was on Burundian Television talking about his organisation. Talking to him, there are some issues for concern – the complete lack of funding makes it difficult for him to do anything; even organising a football match is a financial strain, and even more worryingly, he talks about being an ‘adherent of the FNL’ in the present tense, before correcting himself! But the grounds for optimism are stronger; even someone with not even a bus fare to their name refused to destabilise his country’s future for money – and has found an awful lot of people who feel the same way and are prepared to do something about it – and taking action to improve their position while they do so. His association with CEDAC is still in its infancy – they signed an agreement at the same meeting where he talked to me – but Eric is clearly thrilled at the new partnership, and their model and organisation should be highly valuable in helping the members of AJIEC to access the training and opportunities that they need. And Arcade is ambitious; as we finish talking, he says that he hopes that his movement can be an inspiration to young people in other countries. Given Eric’s general modesty, AJIEC could be a good complement to his work.

Today I set up blogs for Pierre Claver and Eric from CEDAC, which you can visit here and here. The internet cut out before either of them could write a post (currently in internet cafe), but they both seemed pretty pleased with the pages we set up, and should be able to get blogging soon!

Translating some things into French to put on the CEDAC website, and for general local advocacy purposes, thought any Francophones might be interested to read it in their own language! Let me know if you spot any glaring errors!

Jean-Baptiste est content d’avouer son passé comme membre du FDD, un des groupes rebelles au Burundi. Il a passé quatre ans dans le maquis entre 1999 et 2003. Il a maintenant 26 ans, donc il avait 16 ans quand il avait  quitté son école secondaire à Kayanza et forcé de joindre la rébellion. Ses parents avaient été tués dans les massacres de 1993, et il avait déjà considéré joindre la rébellion, mais le reste de sa famille l’a toujours empêché. Et, peu a peu, ’son esprit a changé’, et il a ‘trouvé le rythme’ de la vie rebelle, donc il n’a jamais essayé d’échapper. Néanmoins, il dit qu’une partie de son esprit a toujours dit ‘non’, et qu’il rêvait de la vie civile. Avec quelques amis proches  auxquels  il a discuté pour planifier la desertion,ils ont refusé sous le  risque d’être découvert, et il avait peur que, s’il avait retourné a la colline, les amis du mouvement pourraient lui menacer. Mais en 2003, quand il avait eu  l’opportunité de s’intégrer dans l’armée ou la démobilisation, il était heureux de démobiliser.

Pourtant, le retour à la vie civile n’était pas une panacée. Il a toujours senti  la haine, et, pensant qu’il n’avait rien  contribué, il n’avait pas de l’espoir. Il était vu partout comme rien plus d’autre  que d’ancien combattant. Dans le centre de démobilisation il a rencontrait beaucoup des gens de l’armée burundaise, et il a encore une amitié avec beaucoup de ces gens qui ont été  démobilisés au même temps de lui. Ils font les blagues sur l’ethnicité ensemble ; ils ont passés  beaucoup d’années  en conflit, crée par les politiciens.

Après avoir eu du contact avec CEDAC, il a réalisé qu’il avait la possibilité de faire autre chose  que de  détruire, et qu’il pourrait changer sa vie. Il a réalisé que le Burundi a besoin des  gens comme lui, qui ont détruit leur pays, et qui sont prêt de le reconstruire, et que ceux qui ont abusé les droits humaines dans la guerre ont une capacité unique à combattre les abus maintenant. Avec l’aide du CEDAC, il a commencé de réparer, ou faire réparations pour, le damage qu’il a causé pendant la guerre. Il est un membre intégral du comité du CEDAC, travaillant pour publiciser leur vision et faciliter leur travaille sur les groupes de soutien et les initiatives de micro finance. Il est aussi au cœur des campagnes  pour les élections paisibles, qui a le but de sensibiliser les anciens combattants de se commettre aux élections paisibles en 2010 et de donner un exemple positif aux autres avec leur détermination.

Même comme la réintégration n’a pas été facile; ce n’était pas automatique, mais Jean-Baptiste est maintenant un dirigeant de jeunesse proéminent dans sa communité, consulté sur plusieurs issues, et il travaille pour promoter la vision de CEDAC aux autres combattants, surtout ceux du FNL qui sont en train d’être démobilisés – ou qui étaient exclus de la démobilisation officielle.

En conformité avec la vision de CEDAC, Jean-Baptiste a pris son avenir et celui de son pays dans ses propres mains ; il est survivant du conflit avec une vision positive et l’énergie de l’implémenter.

The whole time I’m talking to Clairance Mpawenimana, I’m struggling not to cry. Not because of what she says, but because of what she’s not saying. She has been introduced to me as a survivor of Gender Based Violence, but although we talk at length about the war and her experiences during that period, GBV remains the elephant in the room; as we approach the subject, she looks away, and I can’t push her further.

Introducing herself, she tells me that she has just finished secondary school, and hopes to go to university next year to study humanities. She was only a child in 1993, but children remember things and the images return. She was living in Kinaba at the time, one of the most affected areas, and she remembers seeing people killed because of their ethnicity, something she didn’t understand at the time (this is common in Burundi; many survivors relate that the first time they knew their ethnicity was when they lost relatives in one of the various periods of massacres). Because there was war in the quartiers, they fled to the mountains, and when they were bombarded there, to Congo; you have to be pretty desperate for Congo to seem like a safe haven. Life there was difficult, but they survived, and, eventually, they were able to come home.

On their return, they found that the family was dispersed, with many dead. She felt wounded, angry and defeated, and was depressed about hers and the country’s future. However, through involvement with CEDAC, she was given six months of training by Search for Common Ground. This was vital in helping her heal her body and spirit, and helped her finally to forgive her former enemies. They were trained to promote unity and be a good example in their communities, something she has tried to do through her work with CEDAC,where she participates in peer support meetings and tries to spread CEDAC’s message in her wider community. Turning back to the war, she says that she still finds it hard to understand what happened, but says that the priority must be to ensure that they never return to that position. She says that the future will be better if all Burundians changed their ideas. She has high hopes for the elections in 2010; although there are obstacles, she feels that only a few have bad ambitions and she hopes that the majority will prevail. She hopes to be a part of changing these ideas, and in helping CEDAC’s work of using the forces use for destruction to rebuild her country.

Listening to Clairance share her story and her hopes for the future has been humbling. She is younger than me, but has faced more than I can imagine, and has picked herself up, and is now trying to help others in her community do the same. Talking to her, I desperately want to wave a magic wand and make this whole country better, but, unfortunately that isn’t an option. Instead, I hope that by empowering young people like Clairance to claim peace and rebuild their country, we can contribute to ensuring that no more young people have to go through these things – in this country at least.

Barnaby is a former member of the FAB (Forces Armées du Burundi), having been in the army from 1996 to 2004, when he left as part of the peace process. He tells me that he grew up hearing stories of the threat against the Tutsi people from the ‘maquis’, and joined the army out of a desire to face them down and liberate the Tutsi people. He is the first person to tell me he joined the war because of an ideological belief in the struggle, rather than because of personal factors such as the death of a relative, but now rejects those arguments. He tells me the war was always senseless, and, like so many others, blames its continuation on those in charge, who didn’t try to end the war and instead pushed for it. The victims were those like himself, who fought and, above all, the civilians.

Barnaby quickly grew to dislike army life; he talks of always being on patrol, of a constant lack of sleep, of being so tired that he slept while marching. As a result, when he was offered demobilisation in 2004 he took it. However, like many others, he struggled to adjust. During demobilisation he came into contact with people from the other forces, realising the pointlessness of it all but finding it easier to get on with these people who had had similar experiences to him. Involvement with CEDAC, which started when he was introduced to the organisation by some of his old comrades, has helped further. It has helped him to stay in contact with former fighters through training sessions and sport, and its vision of harnessing the energy of former soldiers to rebuild the country has, he says, inspired him. He is particularly keen to emphasise their work in promoting disarmament and the handing in of small arms, which he sees as vital to a lasting peace, and he works to spread that message in his neighbourhood.

Barnaby is clearly still delighted to be out of the army, and CEDAC has helped those in the colline* adjust to his return and welcome him back. However, he still has enormous problems. He is one of the less educated people I have spoken to (he does not speak French, so is speaking through Eric), and although he was trained as a driver and auto mechanic by CEDAC, he has not been able to find work, and his demobilisation package is long gone. Although he remains optimistic and prays for peace and better times to come, he faces a constant struggle to support his wife and two children. His story therefore demonstrates not only the progress this country has made, but also how far it has to go in terms of fighting poverty and promoting growth that can form the basis of a lasting peace.

That said, I want to end on a positive note. When I have finished interviewing him and Jean-Baptiste, these former adversaries leave arm-in-arm; reconciliation does seem to be working.

*unlike most places in Africa, Burundians do not traditionally live in villages, but in extended family units on a single hill, or colline.

If you’re wondering how to walk in high heels on a dirt road, the answer is: don’t.

If you really, really have to, then the answer is: go in flip flops and change when you get there.

And if you really, really, really have to, then the answer is: lean forward, thus transfering your weight to the balls of your feet, and basically walk on tip toe. Disadvantages: hurts like hell, slow, high risk of breaking an ankle.

As for why I found myself in this awkward position… last night Claver and I went to the premiere of a film produced by Iriba, an NGO started by members of the Burundian Diaspora in Belgium, that aimed to promote reconciliation and explain the work of the (so far hypothetical) truth, justice and reconciliation commission. It did this by showing the story of two families, and what happens when they find the body of a member of one of the families who was killed in the fighting, possibly by the other family. The film showed how they were able to talk to resolve their differences, and eventually allow a the daughter of one family to marry the son of the other (awww…). It was very well done and managed to avoid being too preachy – it was also very funny, if the shouts of laughter from around the auditorium were anything to go by. Unfortunately the subtitles (it was in Kirundi subtitled in French) didn’t really capture the humour, but it was still entertaining. It’s also good to see CSO’s taking on the challenge of educating the population about the Commission and the benefits it can have in terms of reconciliation and writing the national history – I’ve done a bit of reading on the Truth Commission in Sierra Leone, which operated alongside the Special Court, and one of the major problems they had there is that no-one really understood what it was for and didn’t feel comfortable using it. Hopefully initiatives such as that by Iriba and their partners in the Burundian media can avoid a similar problem in Burundi.

In other news, although my French is getting better, I’m starting to think in Franglais all the time (i.e. not just when speaking French) and losing the ability to translate French-English. This is not good.