In Burundi, Where Anti-Government Protests Are Tamed With Guns

BUJUMBURA — When she goes out alone of Burundi's capital, Valerie has started wearing trousers in case she has to run or is dragged to the ground. On this day, Bujumbura is sunny with a light breeze coming off Lake Tanganyika — still her heart is beating fast.

Valerie (not her real name) is always bracing herself for the "violence and blows" she anticipates will come from security forces, just like the last protest she attended, when women who were already on the ground were kicked in the face, the back, all over their bodies. 

She describes herself as a "state employee, a widow, a Catholic," and she is one of the brave protesters ready to march again against Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to seek a third term in office.

The crisis broke out in late April, when the ruling party nominated Nkurunziza to be the candidate in the election initially planned for June 26. A coalition of opposition parties and organizations who were readying themselves for the election organized the first demonstrations against a third mandate, pointing out how another term would contradict the Constitution and the Arusha Peace Agreement signed 15 years ago.

Demonstrations have continued since then, with the ongoing unrest partly responsible for the decision to postpone the election by a month. 

Protest marches are happening primarily in neighborhoods where there is strongly established opposition, especially the Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), whose leaders are either forced into secrecy or exiled, and the Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU). Demonstrations are notably absent in towns such...