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establishment of the Government Commission is before Parliament. At the conclusion of the entire
process this Commission is to be governed by a Law.
2.2 Institutional and Legislative Framework
Burundi has ratified and/or acceded to a certain number of regional and international Legal Human
Rights Instruments. A certain number of these Instruments, including the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights is an integral part of the 18 March 2005 Burundian Constitution in its Article 19.
PART TWO:
OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO BURUNDI’S FIRST INITIAL REPORT ON THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON
HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS PRESENTED AT THE 27th ORDINARY SESSION OF THE COMMISSION
IN ALGIERS FROM 27 APRIL TO 11 MAY 2000
1. Ethnic Groups which make up the Burundian Population
Burundi is composed of 3 ethnic groups, namely the Bahutu, the Batutsi and the Batwa. As had been
indicated in the 1st Report, the 3 groups speak the same language and share the same villages. There
is therefore no specific village for any specific group although the Batwa have historically been a
marginalized group; this being due to the fact that their nomadic way of life has not always favoured
them. Thus most of the Batwa are not educated but the on-going social programmes in Burundi
endeavour to take them into account along with the other vulnerable groups requiring community
assistance.
2. The decline in children’s primary school enrolment rate
Where it is true that children have participated in the armed conflicts, it cannot be confirmed that
this was the sole factor which constitutes the basis for the decline in the children’s level of
education. Most of the children had fled the hostilities to areas where there were no reception
institutions. The living conditions of most of these children as well as that of their parents were not
very conducive to education with the prevailing extreme poverty and incertitude regarding the
future. Today, one may well believe that even the oldest among them have at times doubted the
importance of pursuing education.
Nowadays, the situation is far better than that of 2000, and the presidential measures taken in 2006
by the Head of State have made it possible to relaunch all the educational indicators, at all levels.