Hutu

Member of the majority ethnic group of Burundi and Rwanda, numbering around 9.5 million. The Hutu tend to live as peasant farmers. They have been dominated by the Tutsi minority since the 14th century and there is a long history of violent conflict between the two groups. The Hutu language belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family.

By early 1995 there were an estimated 2 million Hutu refugees from Rwanda and Burundi in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). By taking over land, cutting down forests for firewood, and adversely affecting the local economy by inflating food prices, their presence caused considerable disruption and in August 1995 Zairean troops forcibly repatriated about 15,000 refugees, while another 130,000 fled into the interior of Zaire. The subsequent process of at least nominally voluntary repatriation was hampered by supporters of the former Rwandan regime intimidating other refugees and preventing their return. By February 1996 there were still 1 million Rwandans in 42 camps in east Zaire when troops were again deployed to drive out refugees.

In Burundi in August 1999 Hutu rebels and government soldiers continued to fight. They clashed in Kanyosha, near the capital, Bujumbura. Thousands of civilians fled to the city. Villagers then accused the Tutsi-dominated army of killing Hutu civilians in revenge for the Hutu rebel attack in Kanyosha. The army maintained the rebels were responsible for the killings.