Burundi
What ICG has done to date
July 5, 1996
- On May 17, 1996, ICG convened a meeting with representatives of a number of mainly US-based advocacy NGOs to seek agreement on a common advocacy platform and program of activities. The group agreed to work together to build up support in the US for three key initiatives:
- US assumption of responsibility for (a) drawing up detailed contingency plans for a multinational military intervention in Burundi in the event that genocide occurs and (b) soliciting firm offers of troops, logistical and other forms of support for the intervention force;
- a continuation of high-level diplomatic efforts to encourage dialogue and a negotiated political settlement to the crisis in Burundi; and
- an expansion of the international presence on the ground.
- It was agreed that the group would focus its advocacy efforts, in the first instance, on the first of these initiatives.
- A letter to the President was drawn up for members of Congress to sign. The letter argued strongly that the US should take the lead role in drawing up contingency plans for a military intervention in Burundi and in soliciting troops and logistical commitments from other nations. ICG gathered approximately 30 Congressional signatures for the letter, which went to the President in mid-June.
- ICG board members have met with William Perry and Tony Lake to put forward the case for more urgent and resolute US handling of the Burundi crisis, including the need for contingency planning to proceed at the highest level. A meeting is currently being sought with Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
- An article by ICG board member and former Congressman Steve Solarz appeared in the Washington Post on the case for intervention in Burundi. Further articles/op-eds will follow in the US and European press.
- Briefings were provided for leading journalists on possible political responses to the mounting crisis in burundi. At ICG's urging, a number of news networks dispatched journalists to cover the crisis on the ground.
- CNN has been approached, through ICG board member Ed Turner, and asked to host a prime-time TV discussion program on Burundi. The program would contain recent footage of the situation in Burundi, assess the risk of genocide and then move into a panel discussion involving leading advocates of contingency planning and representatives from the State and Defence Departments and possibly a retired senior military figure.
- ICG board members lobbied the Canadian and Japanese governments to have Burundi placed on the agenda for the forthcoming G7 in Lyons in late June 1996.
- Bernard Kouchner MEP (ICG board member) travelled to Burundi for a brief visit in mid-June.
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