You cannot compare apples to oranges: Ubushingantahe vs. criminal justice

The members of the council (Abashingantahe or singularly
Umushungantage) are not just chosen at random; instead, there are
multiple qualities one has to have to become a council member. The
qualities include, but are not limited to: experience and wisdom, holds
love and truth in high regard, has a sense of honor and dignity, a
developed sense of justice and fairness, understand the common good,
and must balance action and speech.  The selection of these members is
from a pool of the wisest men, and possibly women, in a village to
settle disputes impartially.

The process of decision making in the Bashingantahe council is a different procedure because there are no codified rules to reference; as an alternative the members use each case as an opportunity to decide a new case, no two cases are alike. Hence why transitional or restorative justice programs in Africa are not supported by the United States, the basis is too fluid and antique to appeal to most. But when looking deeper into the intricacies of the Bashingantahe, one can see that the general principles behind the council are positive and appealing.

Three important principles to take note of are the council’s: 1) neutrality, 2) equity, and 3) free social service.  Neutrality is exemplified by the council members weighing every side to an argument, then making the proper decision through wisdom; the equity of the council allows for anti-discrimination policies and inclusion based on ethnicities; and lastly, the council’s tasks are all done unpaid and usually there is no fee, on occasion a traditional beer, “agatutu k’abagabo,” is brought and shared after the resolution.

The question is how is it possible for politics and the Burundian criminal justice system not to interfere with the work of the council?” It’s simple, it can and it has! That goes for every country’s legal system; politics and corruption rear their ugly heads occasionally, but the real concern is for Burundians not to lose their traditional legal system (Ubushingantahe) to an adversarial criminal justice system. To the contrary, the two systems can work side by side to achieve social harmony and justice. 

In agreement with Burundians who, during the democratization debates, said that Abushingantahe council was a base for political reform, Agnes Nindorera in Ubushingantahe as a Base for Political Transformation in Burundi goes further to say that Ubushingantahe is one of the keys to Burundian renewal today, along with family linkage.

In fact, the strengths of the council include: social cohesion, order, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and reconciliation between individuals and families and a sense of nationalism, instead of ethnocentrism.  The council’s justice is that of proximity meaning that the disputants do not have to go to tribunals or police, instead the issues are dealt with locally among neighbors.  The Bashingantahe are an outlet for individuals delivering justice, neither through punishment nor repression, but through traditional legal approach and values.

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