LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Burundi: Government
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During the year Burundi was a source and transit country for children trafficked for the purpose of forced soldiering. There ... were reports of coerced sexual exploitation of women by both government soldiers and rebel combatants. The trafficking of child soldiers by the PALIPEHUTU-FNL within the country was a problem.
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With most of Burundi at peace, the United Nations has assumed responsibility for the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB), a peacekeeping force already in place under the auspices of the African Union. The new UN force, known as the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) is supposed to facilitate implementation of agreements between the government of Burundi and former rebel groups, including the most important of them, the Hutu-led National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) of Pierre Nkurunziza. Implementation of the agreements has been slow, preventing real consolidation of the fragile peace.
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The Burundian judicial system represents another major source of insecurity for individuals in Burundi. As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan pointed out during his visit to Burundi in May 1998, this is a system in desperate need of reform (see UN Press Release, 1998). Far from conforming to the tenets of impartiality and fairness, the judicial system is virtually totally dominated by Tutsi. According to Albert Mbonerane (1997: 3) they use the judiciary as “an instrument of repression in the service of the government” instead of as “the guarantor of impartial application of the law”. This abuse became even more commonplace after July 1996 when Buyoya took power. The already suspended constitution was abolished and the judiciary and legal system even further politicised.
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Small, poor, densely populated, and landlocked, Burundi lies just south of the Equator in central Africa. From the capital, Bujumbura, on Lake Tanganyika, a great escarpment rises to fertile highlands. Agriculture employs 90 percent of the people, with most being subsistence farmers. Since independence in 1962, Burundi has been plagued by ethnic conflict between the majority Hutus and the Tutsis, who tend to dominate the government and army—but are only 14 percent of the population. A 2003 cease-fire and new government offer hope for peace.
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Burundi's first ever election, held in 1993, was won by a Hutu. Elements of the Tutsi-dominated army assassinated the new President a few months later, triggering the start of a long-running conflict between the army and Hutu rebel groups that cost an estimated 500,000 lives. In 1996 Buyoya again took power but was unable to stop the violence. Under pressure from the region, negotiations between the belligerents began in 1998, and in 2000 a peace agreement was concluded in Arusha, Tanzania. It was signed by all parties except 4 hard-line rebel groups. Violence between these groups and the army continued, despite the institution of a transitional government in 2002, until separate cease-fire agreements were concluded with 3 of them during the second half of 2003.
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Burundi is governed under the constitution of 2005. The president, who is both head of state and head of government, is popularly elected for a five-year term (but may be elected by a two-thirds vote of Parliament); the president is eligible for a second term. There is a bicameral Parliament. The 54-seat Senate has 34 members who are elected by indirect vote to serve five-year terms; the remaining seats are assigned to ethnic groups and former heads of state. The 100-seat National Assembly is 60% Hutu and 40% Tutsi, with at least 30% women; its members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. Administratively, Burundi is divided into 17 provinces.
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