Burundians are currently in for a rough time and it is made worse by the culture of silence that the government is foisting on its citizens and residents. Using its overbearing might, the government of Burundi has shut down access to social media platforms while the country continues to experience political unrest. Not only the social media is under proscription, the authorities have also closed three independent radio stations in the country.
Burundi is to head to the polls on June 26, 2015 and the cause of protest is the incumbent President, Pierre Nkurunziza, who, against reasoning, is participating in the exercise to retain his seat. The ruling National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy, which he belongs to, also thinks the President should be allowed to run for a third term.
If elected, Nkurunziza will be spending 15 years in office, contrary to 10 years, which the Constitution allows. The CNDD-FDD puerile argument is that the President’s first term was a ‘selection’ by the members of parliament and not an election. Like most protests in Africa, where law enforcement agents exhibit unnecessary exuberance, about 10 people have been killed and about 600 arrested while many others have been injured. In addition, thousands of others have reportedly fled the country to seek refuge in neighbouring Tanzania, DR Congo and Rwanda.
The clampdown on social media services, such as Twitter, Facebook, Tango, Viber and Whatsapp, are indications that governments now have a firm understanding of how powerful these platforms are. If anything, social media tools have helped to make citizenship more engaging and have availed citizens effective tools to perform their oversight function of all the arms of government.
Burundi, with its population of about 10.7 million, is an interesting study in this light. Its landlocked status in the East Africa community means it has to depend on the ‘generosity’ of its neighbours for economic survival. The new crisis is an avoidable setback for the country. Only an estimated 530,000 citizens in Burundi are Internet users with many of them resident in Bujumbura, the capital. The President fears this population.
Perhaps, Nkurunziza is aware of how powerful a tweet can be. He must have been given a crash tutorial that when it comes to media platforms, social media is the king of them all. He must have also been schooled on how easy it is to draw international attention to the injustice it will represent if he is fielded as candidate on June 26. Today, Burundi is the only country on the continent where users lack access to the social media. For him, he is satisfied if what happens in Burundi stays in Burundi!
The President needs to wake up and smell the coffee while acknowledging that the citizens are the biggest stakeholders in any democracy. The unsavoury history of the country and the Arusha Peace Deal is another reason for the President and his party to field another candidate. Burundi has a history of a civil war that lasted for 12 years and only ended in 2005 while leaving over 300,000 people dead and millions displaced.
The government, in effecting its order, instructed telecoms operators to block mobile access to some sites. Before the ban, Burundians used social media platforms to reach out and organise the different protests that have held in Bujumbura. Despite the low Internet access, the number of mobile phones in the country is about 2.6 million and since most citizens access the Internet through their telephones, the restrictions put in place are from the six mobile operators in the country.
Of note is the military’s non-partisan position, an indication that the lesson from a similar case in Egypt has been well taken. The East African community, the African Union and the United Nations need to have a clear position on the Internet use and social media on the continent and around the world. The freedom of expression must continue to be protected everywhere in the world. Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, should know that history has always been kind to decent interests like those that the Burundians currently have. The citizens who must have heard about the successful power change in Nigeria will seek the same for themselves, remembering how fruitful the Arab spring was.
Blocking access to the Internet, or applications on the Internet, such as social media, violates the right to freedom of expression by denying the right of persons to seek, receive, and impart information. Shutdowns frequently occur during periods of civil unrest, directly affecting the right to association. As a result, shutdowns often precede and enable egregious human rights violations because journalists and witnesses are unable to effectively report on repressive actions by state and non-state actors.’
There is the need to check happenings in Burundi quickly; otherwise, genocide may be in tow without any word getting out. Shutdowns and slow Internet access are methods that governments have been known to use to quell protests. In January, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo shut down Internet access and text messaging services after a nationwide protest. On its restoration, a number of social media sites and text messaging platforms remained shut. The government of the Republic of Niger has given such instructions in the past.
Liberty and freedom offline should be the same online. There is a new economy that depends on Internet access to survive. There are young people who have businesses that constantly demand they have access to the Internet. I doubt if the young people in Burundi who are in such category require compensation for their loss after this crisis. The right to shutdown Internet access should not remain in the absolute control of the government given several instances of abuse the world has seen. Shutdowns are now the preface of arbitrary arrests and other forms of human right violations. African leaders must begin to lead by examples and Nkurunziza should not be an exception.
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