So a couple of days ago I posted about a political arrest and insults to the Belgian ambassador, and I’ve managed to find out a bit more. Be aware that this is all hearsay as I can’t access the local media as it’s all in Kirundi, so I’m reliant on talking to people and trying to figure it out. It seems that the politician in question was Alexis Sinduhije, who is an opposition politician who will be running for President next year as part of a coalition of several opposition groups, is also a journalist and founder of Radio Publique Africaine, and in 2008 was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. He is also supported by Bujumbura’s chattering classes, which include most of the Tutsi elite.

The crisis was precipitated when he reported plans by the ruling party to use ethnic violence to benefit them politically. The story may be true; it is plausible, and he claims to be able to prove it (but then, he would say that). But it’s also clear that this story will benefit him politically, and there is talk of someone filing a complaint against him. I honestly have no idea, but either way I would question the wisdom of broadcasting it – given the delicate state of Burundi’s ethnic relationships, it could stir up genuinely spontaneous violence from one side or the other, which is why I’m not recording the details. Having said that though, Sinduhije has a very strong record when it comes to ethnic issues – his radio station came into being as a way to disseminate non-ethnic news – and it seems unlikely that he would have made this up or broadcast it lightly.

Anyway, Sinduhije is not in gaol, as he refused to leave his house and the police weren’t stupid enough to kill him, so he was able to face them down and the government now claim it was for his protection. But it’s not a good sign and indicates that the election next year may be neither fair nor peaceful.

Jean-Baptiste Simbo is gregarious, smiling and open. He is happy to admit his past as a member of the FDD, one of Burundi’s many rebel groups, for four years ‘dans le forêt’ (in the bush), between 1999 and 2003. He is 26 now, only one year older than me, meaning that he was 16 when he was abducted from his secondary school in Guyanza and forced to join the rebels. Asked why he didn’t try to escape, he tells me that his parents had been killed in 1993, and that he had thought about joining the rebellion ever since, but his family had always stopped him. And then, little by little ‘his spirit changed’ and he ‘found the rhythm’ of rebel life. But, he says, there was always a part of his spirit that said ‘no’, and he always longed for civilian life. With a few close friends he discussed leaving, but was never able to carry through his plan; there was always a risk, and he feared that should he return to the community the friends of the movement would turn against him. But in 2003, when he was given the choice of integrating into the army or demobilising, he jumped at the chance to demobilise.

Jean-Baptiste

However, returning to civilian life was not a panacea. The demobilisation centre helped to address hatred, as former rebels and members of the army passed through together, and he is on good terms with many of those who demobilised at the same time as him. They make jokes about ethnicity together; overcoming years of conflict that, he says, was stirred up by politicians. However, although he felt reconciled with his former enemies, he struggled to adjust to civilian life and did not regain his sense of self-worth until joining CEDAC, when he was inspired by Eric’s vision. He argues that the situation was caused by politicians – who, having stirred up the hatred that started the war, enriched themselves while others fought.

Through CEDAC, he realised that he could be more than just a destroyer, and could change his life. He realised that it was up to him and people like him – those who committed human rights abuses during the war – to work to prevent them now. Through this and other initiatives he saw the importance of working to help rebuild what he had helped destroy, seeing it in terms of making reparations for the damage he had done in the war. He is now a member of CEDAC’s organising committee, trying to reach out to other former rebels and encourage them to join the organisation, helping to organise peer support meetings, and training sessions, and helping coordinate CEDAC’s microfinance programme. He is also closely involved with the Peaceful Elections Campaign, which aims to sensitise former combatants to be committed to peaceful elections and give a positive example of this commitment. Although reintegration never went smoothly; as he points out, it “is not automatic”, he is now a prominent youth leader in his community, consulted on many issues, and works to promote CEDAC’s vision to other former combatants, especially those from the FNL who are only just demobilising.

Meeting Fabiola Nshimirimana, I can barely believe her past. Beautiful, smiling, and very pregnant indeed, she welcomes me into the room where her microproject is based, renting out glasses and chairs for events and making baskets and gourds. Her demeanour changes only slightly when I ask her about the war, telling me that she was a member of the FDD (Hutu rebels, at first led by a former Minister of the Interior angered at the Army’s attempt to sabotage the democratic government, then led by current President Pierre Nkurunziza). She tells me that in 1997, when she was 17 and in secondary school, she was taken by force by the rebels, and from then on did what the others did to survive. Although she thought of deserting, she feared that she would face problems if she returned home and risked being abducted again; later, however, Eric tells me that she was highly ranked in the rebels and was one of their most fierce fighters.

Talking about the war, she grows more sober, with fewer nervous laughs. Speaking through Eric as she is uncomfortable in French (I have heard some reports that among the rebels those speaking French or English risked being killed) She tells us that the conditions through the whole period were horrible, and that she found it hard to live, and that as a woman – one of about 200 in her brigade – she found it especially hard to adapt. There were many things they needed in combat that were not available. Later, as I am about to leave, she shows me her legs, covered with scars from her time in the bush.

Fabiola Nshimirimana

In this position, the support she gained from CEDAC was vital. She was able to meet with other former combatants, including women, who could share experiences and ideas. Exchanging experiences and problems that they had faced allowed them to find solutions together. Through this organisation, she has had contact with many women, and now has a number of close friends from other forces, something that has changed her attitude as she now feels more able to relate to them and relax with them. CEDAC also helped her in establishing her microproject with other women, using the money that came with their demobilisation packages. Although the other women were later forced to leave the project, Fabiola is continuing to work and hopes to make it a success. Again, the support she has received from Eric and her peer network at CEDAC has been vital, and she hopes that by participating in these meetings she will be able to help other women in Burundi who are struggling to adjust to peace.

CEDAC is an umbrella organisation for former combatants’ associations led by the dynamic Eric Niragira, who founded the organisation with little more than a hope and a prayer in 2005. Although this is a period of his life about which he is reticent, Eric is himself a former combatant with the FDD, experience he brings to his work with CEDAC’s members, and after demobilisation he had the idea of founding an organisation in which former combatants from all sides could come together, promoting mutual understanding and reconciliation. Since he felt that former combatants were the most likely to restart the war, he saw this as a crucial step towards establishing peace. CEDAC now has 20,000 members across the country, working together in microfinance projects, support groups, and campaign groups, and receiving livelihoods training, something particularly important for former child soldiers, who have missed much of their schooling during the war.

Eric Niragira

Survivor Corps will be working with CEDAC on their work on Gender Based Violence, where they seek to prevent Gender Based Violence by providing healing services and support to survivors, as well as attempting to tackle its causes by educating those who spread it as a weapon of war to become advocates against it. This work has many aspects; the ubiquitous support groups and microfinance groups, as well as provision of legal assistance (in collaboration with AFJB), but also campaigns to hand in weapons, and anti-GBV campaigns targeted at men and aiming to address views of women and definitions of masculinity that contribute to GBV.

CEDAC also works on a dynamic project, in which Survivor Corps will also be partnering them, in which they are harnessing former combatants to engage with other former combatants to promote peaceful elections in 2010. It is hard to overstate the importance of this; former combatants are involved in widespread violence and banditry across the country, are often armed, and are liable to take up arms when the political struggle goes against them. Almost every Burundian I have spoken to has told me that they are afraid of what might happen during and after the elections – but that the elections remain the focus of their hopes for peace. CEDAC are working on demonstrations for peace, the first to be held this Sunday, organising public meetings of former combatants to educate them on the importance of peaceful elections, and working the Radio Publique Africaine to produce radio programmes promoting peace. Many of their members are even standing as local candidates, promising to be conciliatory and moderate in their rhetoric. In line with Survivor Corps’ traditional focus on disability rights, they will also be campaigning for accessible polling stations.

I will be contributing to Survivor Corps’ work with CEDAC by profiling Eric and several of his members, drawn from different rebel groups, as well as some of the survivors of Gender Based Violence involved with CEDAC projects, and some of the former child soldiers in CEDAC training centres. I will also be helping Eric to develop CEDAC’s web presence, and covering events such as weapons collections and the demonstration for peace.