SUMMARY
Palipehutu (Parti pour la libération du peuple Hutu: Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People) was a Hutu armed group that sought to achieve proportional distribution of political and administrative power between Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi. Consequently, it engaged in an armed struggle against the Tutsi-dominated Government of Burundi in the early 1990s.
Following massive repression and massacres carried out by the Tutsi-dominated Government of Burundi against the educated Hutu population, many survivors found refuge in Rwanda. It was in this refugee diaspora that the Tabara movement emerged, from which Palipehutu had its roots. Most members of the movement were eventually granted asylum in Tanzania, where the name Palipehutu was adopted on 18 April 1980. The original aim of Palipehutu was to raise awareness amongst the Hutu about their rights, and to work for a democratic political system. According to Palipehutu there was a fundamental difference between the races and a historical conflict between Hutu and Tutsi dating back to the fourteenth century when Tutsis had invaded the country from the north.
The National Forces of Liberation (FNL) was formed in 1985 as the armed wing of Palipehutu; with it, the group began advocating for an armed struggle to achieve ethnic and regional proportional distribution of political and administrative positions. In 1992, it had an estimated troop size of 400. Supporters were recruited from refugee camps and settlements in Tanzania. They comprised of ethnic Hutus but affiliation was more nuanced and depended upon family and geography as well; accordingly support came largely from the central Muramvya region and the plains around Lake Tanganyika. A small number of supporters were also from Rwanda. Fighters were trained and conducted small-scale attacks by crossing over the border into Burundi.
Remy Gahutu, founder of Palipehutu, died in a Tanzanian prison in 1990. Even before the group received its new name, Gahutu had been greatly involved in the Tabara movement and its Rwanda-based refugee organization; he had been expelled from Rwanda due to his radicalism. According to Gahutu the goal of Palipehutu was to combat the Government of Burundi ideology of one nation - one people, which denied the existence of a divide between Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi. Etienne Karatasi was leader of Palipehutu during its time of activity, despite being in exile in Denmark, whilst Cossan Kabura was military commander of the FNL military wing. Antoine Sezoya-Ngabo was another leader, who became prominent after the group transitioned into a political party.
Palipehutu experienced two major splits: the first took place around 1989-90, when some members left to launch Frolina; the second occurred in 1992, when the FNL divided into two groups. During this second split, one part of the force remained loyal to Karatasi and Palipehutu whilst the other abandoned it to follow Kabura after he questioned the leadership and dedication of Karatasi to the armed struggle. This group subsequently became Palipehutu – FNL. Despite part of its military wing remaining, Palipehutu never recovered its earlier military capacity. As a result, it refocused on the political struggle and transitioned into a political party. It signed the Arusha Peace Accord with the Government of Burundi in 2000.
The Palipehutu was allied with the Mayi Mayi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was also reported to have been one of the groups that collaborated with the anti-government militia, Conseil Nationale de Résistance du Kivu, against the Government of DR Congo in order to widen its own rebellion and establish bases in 1996 and 1997, as did Palipehutu – FNL. The Government of Burundi accused the Government of Rwanda of training and arming Palipehutu.
