22 juli 2015

The day after. Het vredige landschap staat symbolisch vol imaginaire vogelverschrikkers: des épouvantails. De oppostiepartijen zouden de verkiezingen boycotten (oude fout of slimme zet?), maar er waren wel zeven alternatieve kandidaten. Niemand weet hoe het zat of zit. Overal onduidelijkheid, afschrikking, en – pas op – de Rwandese stijl komt er in Burundi ook aan. Elke persoon die je ontmoet kan een vijand zijn, dus – pas op – hou je mond, zeg niet wat je denkt of vindt. Burundesen zeiden in de afgelopen jaren weleens dat landgenoten ‘hypocriet’ konden zijn, maar dat konden ze hardop zeggen. Daarmee bedoelden ze dat iemand zich kritischer kon voordoen dan hij was om uiteindelijk kritiekloos de wil van een baas of een politieke leider te volgen. Het was een oprechte boosheid wanneer iemand sprak over dergelijke hypocrisie. Maar het zal de komende jaren niet hardop te horen zijn: je weet immers niet wie een vogelverschrikker kan zijn, of die grote oren heeft en of je het ooit zelf nog nodig hebt om een principe te vergeten om je staande te houden. Verdedigers van mensenrechten verdienen hier alle steun om de trots van mensen te helpen vasthouden.

De omringende landen kunnen tevreden zijn: het derde mandaat van Nkurunziza zal ongetwijfeld een feit zijn, al is de uitslag nog niet bekendgemaakt. Zij kunnen volgen in 2016 (Congo) en 2017 (Rwanda).

We volgen regelmatig This Burundian Life, waarop sinds 2013 de schrijvers zich als volgt voorstellen: ‘Nous sommes un groupe de personnes ordinaires, menant des vies ordinaires, éparpillées à travers le monde avec une chose en commun : le Burundi est tatoué dans nos cœurs’. Hoewel zij dus vaak ver van het gevaar af verblijven, treffen we in de rubriek Ubuzima, à la Burundaise soms rake berichten aan. Hieronder twee passages.

In mei 2015 schreef een jonge Burundese vrouw: ‘Why I will not demonstrate and potentially die for my country. This blog could be very short since the answer to the title is quite simple: because it’s my choice to make and I don’t want to. Before you go ahead and call me a coward … allow me to explain my decision. Not a single fiber of my being looks like that of a soldier’s. To me a nation is just too vague; it’s an entity I have a hard time feeling a part of or emotionally attached to. To put things into perspective, I’d die for my family. I am ready to fight like a lioness for them, kill and die in the process because they deserve such sacrifice. Let’s just say that my willingness to die is highly situationally specific, and dying for a country is not a situation I even envision. What does ‘dying for my country’ mean anyway? What would I be dying for, exactly: human rights, freedom of speech, gas, electricity, social justice, equity, education, food security, health equity? It’s too much to have to die for and I doubt that my only life would be enough to change the situation. Isn’t one’s readiness to die another’s readiness to kill? I think that between those two extremes, there’s plenty of room for me to stand’….. ‘I fled Burundi a few days before the CNDD FDD congress and honestly I am not ashamed to admit it. I shouldn’t be. All the Burundians that I meet in Kigali say that they are here to ‘visit a sick aunt’, ‘take an exam’, ‘participate in a seminar’ or ‘chill with cousins’. No one says that they ran away because they didn’t feel safe, and when I say it people look at me as if I suddenly grew a third eye. When I say the word ‘refugee’, I get uncomfortable laughter and looks’….. ‘I don’t understand what’s so wrong with wanting to move to a safer place and potentially save your life. I don’t understand all the borderline bullying chain messages urging people to join the protesters and fight for their rights (by the way, I am a protester. I might not demonstrate on the streets but I am protesting with all my heart, voice and means I have). I don’t understand Burundians in London, Paris, Brussels, Ottawa who are writing lengthy Facebook statuses on how ashamed people from Rohero, Kinindo etc should be for not demonstrating. How ironic. I too would love the comfort of standing in front of an embassy, waving a Burundian flag with no risk of getting shot in the head or be sent to jail indefinitely’….. ‘Burundi is where I call home, a country that I love deeply. But that’s not enough for me to die for it. In my book, patriotism is proportionate to my country’s ability to respect my rights, fulfill my needs and offer opportunities to grow. Right now, my patriotism is quite low’….. ‘I’ll not give up my life for a country full of potential but unstable, where reading a document and following the rules is too much to ask. I will not die for a country that does not value education enough to take the best decision possible for its students. I will not die for a country where freedom of choice and speech is not an unconditional right. Not for a country where surviving is the norm and living a privilege… I would consider dying for a nation where most of the work has already been done and solid institutions put in place, a nation that uplifts its people and allows them to enjoy a life with as much social justice and equity as possible. I’d die with the guarantee that the next generation would not have to fight for the same cause again. I’d die for a country that deeply understands the moral importance of human life…’
When Burundi will get rid of those savages with insatiable hunger for power, I will applaud the men and women who risked their lives on the streets, they are heroes’….. ‘I don’t want to be a hero, a martyr or be remembered as a freedom-fighter. Burundi’s memory is way too short anyway. My purpose in life is to serve the most vulnerable and participate to sustainable development of communities. If Burundi is not safe enough for me to do that, I am sure another country will allow me to. I don’t want to fight, but I am more than willing to build’….. ‘My life is not more valuable than those who lost theirs during the protests. My heart is shattered that they had to die so young, full of dreams and hope. I am furious that the last image they saw of the country they loved was chaos. I am not worthy of such sacrifice, freedom should not be so expensive. I don’t think a single country on Earth deserves anyone to die for it. Patriotism is an act of love; loving your country should not get you killed.’

In juni 2015 schreef een Burundese vrouw vanuit het buitenland: ‘The people have tasted democracy and peace simultaneously and have refused to return to a dictatorship or war. But Nkurunziza has decided he needs this third term so much, that he will take a whole entire country hostage. OUR Burundi, he has decided is HIS Burundi’…..
‘Nkurunziza has taken Burundi hostage. He took hostage all the Burundian government institutions. Our new, our young, our hard won, democratic institutions are now in his hands. It starts with corruption, then some extrajudicial killings here and there… Yes he took over the opposition!!! Even more importantly he slowly but surely is taking over the legislative, and the judiciary. He has taken our constitution hostage. He is making it say whatever he wants, and forcing all the other branches of government to be accomplices of this kidnapping. Nkurunziza has taken hostage our constitution just so he can run another term. He has taken our police forces hostage. Hiring poor people in rural areas, making them sleep in barricades, sending them to crack down on protests untrained, letting them go hungry and thirsty while they do his dirty work. The people they have been violating feel even more sympathy towards them and feed them while their commander fails to care for them. He has taken hostage our children, using their schools as military positions. Last, and most importantly, he has taken hostage the only government institution that ALL Burundians have trusted for a decade, the only part of government we were all proud of: our armed forces! He started by arming civilians and training them, in case republican forces would not bow down to ALL his wishes, and now he divided the emblem of our peace and the defenders of our nations into ‘putshistes’ and ‘loyalists’. As since the start, some have overtly objected to his use of excessive force on civil population, some even went to the point of attempting to depose him, so now, anyone not chanting his name, or hesitating to shoot blank at an unarmed protestor, is obviously a putshiste in his book. As much as coup plotters should accept responsibility for their act, and they have by surrendering, we have to remember the division is all about the third term and the toll it is taking on our nation’….. ‘Nkurunziza has taken hostage our economy. It started with bad governance, with corruption, but now he has brought the entire city to a stand still. By shooting against legitimate protestors, by using terror to receive votes, Nkurunziza has taken hostage the economy. Now people are protesting, not working for safety concerns, or desperately trying to make ends meat in an economy in a coma. The only people that can work are public servants, security companies, and health care workers. Many have predicted it our government will be bankrupt in less than a month. Why would any civil servants risk their way to work when they know for sure they will not be compensated? … It is a catastrophe, mothers selling fruits in the market become victims of grenade attacks, when others are so desperate to sell theirs they are selling at a loss…Someday this hostage situation shall end. Freedom shall come. It shall be tainted by brave people’s blood, scented with the despair of poor people, soaked in the tears of children, the dignity of mothers, and the unheard outcry of millions. Burundi will return to its people, it is such a shame it has to cost us so much. As I write this, I speak of an entire nation. Yet Nkurunziza has some genuine supporters out there. I keep hearing you, and try my best to communicate with you. I want to tell you that freedom will be won, and that my freedom is yours just as much. The fears that are feeding your paranoia have no reason to be. This is not Tutsis being nostalgic of power, the media feeding false information, the west spitting at our sovereignty, or any other conspiracy theory you believe in. This is people at the grassroots reminding their elected officials what their God given rights are. And if some opportunists dare take advantage of our cry for salvation, we will invite you to join our constant fight for the dignity of our people and the sovereignty of our nation.’

Als in een slechte film, waarin iemand toekijkt hoe een ander wordt bedreigd en daarna neergeschoten, en dan roept ‘O nee, dit kan niet’, lezen we de reacties van westerse landen. De bedreiging van de Burundese populatie roept bij regeringen ver weg het pleidooi voor verzoening en debat op.

Verantwoording:
De informatie die is gebruikt voor dit bericht van Kennis zonder Grenzen is verkregen van openbare media en van bekenden uit Burundi en Nederland.