SUMMARY
During the intrastate armed conflict in Burundi from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s the Hutu rebel movements did not only engage in fighting with the Tutsi-dominated government. Some groups also fought one another for dominance, such as in the case of the CNDD-FDD (Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie, National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy) and the Palipehutu-FNL (Parti pour la libération du Peuple Hutu - Forces Nationales de liberation, Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People- Forces for the National Liberation) non-state conflict in the early 2000s.
The Palipehutu-FNL engaged in non-state conflict already in 1997, that time fighting with the CNDD-FDDs forerunner (the CNDD) over the latter’s wish to enter into negotiations with the government and the CNDD’s rise as a more popular movement than the Palipehutu-FNL. When the CNDD-FDD split from the original movement in 1998 this incompatibility was dissolved, since the bulk of political and military power was retained within the CNDD faction that did not wish to negotiate. The CNDD-FDD and the Palipehutu-FNL subsequently cooperated at times during the years of conflict that followed, until events on the ground overtook this alliance.
The second bout of fighting, this time between the CNDD-FDD and the Palipehutu-FNL, took place in 2003 to 2004. This round of fighting had its origin also in differing perceptions of the merits of negotiating with the government, with the Palipehutu-FNL vehemently opposing talks whilst the CNDD-FDD had signed on to and begun to implement the Arusha process. After the CNDD-FDD had signed the agreement only the Palipehutu-FNL remained as a powerful rebel group that had not joined the peace process. By signing the agreement the CNDD-FDD had first of all struck a deal with the (in the Palipehutu-FNL’s view) Tutsi establishment, in itself branded as a treacherous act by the Palipehutu-FNL. The agreement also in essence meant that the CNDD-FDD was to become part of the government, in time-sharing power, and integrating their armed forces; placing the two movements at loggerheads. At the same time the CNDD-FDD also accused the Palipehutu-FNL of carrying out a campaign of killings of the CNDD-FDD’s political commissioners.
Clashes between the two first broke out in September of 2003, when each movement’s forces engaged in fighting and also directly targeted individuals believed to be linked to the enemy. Fighting between the two groups was mainly concentrated to the areas of Bujumbura Rural, Bubanza, Muramvya provinces, and the streets of Bujumbura. Clashes continued sporadically into 2004 and throughout the rest of that year.
The clashes ended more or less with a victory for the CNDD-FDD and its government-allied, which removed much of the Palipehutu-FNL’s presence from the areas of fighting. The Palipehutu-FNL nevertheless survived as a rebel group, although having been severely weakened by the fighting. The Palipehutu-FNL continued in the years that followed to clash with government forces, which included elements of the CNDD-FDD that had been integrated into the armed forces as stipulated by the agreements signed in the Arusha peace process.
The non-state conflict between CNDD-FDD and Palipehutu-FNL is first included in UCDP data in 2003. In October that year, clashes in Bugume village in the Bubanza province, Burundi killed 20 combatants. The 25 deaths threshold was thus breached.
