Its specific goals are 1) to provide a clearinghouse for reports from those on the ground in Burundi to inform short-term decision-making by local, regional and international actors and 2) to establish a centralized record of violent events for future research, truth-telling and and legal procedures.

Unlike several other maps which present reports from citizen journalists or crowd seeded information, providing invaluable original data on the situation on the ground in Burundi, this map consolidates all events reported in the media (international and local), social media (by reputable journalists), as well as all events reported by other maps tracking electoral and political violence and protests in Burundi. We believe centralizing these reports is important to gain a global understanding of the situation for present and future decision-making.

Additionally, we are working with local partner organizations to gather and verify original reports of violence through their pre-established networks. This reporting system has not yet been launched.

This map also differs from other maps or databases that observe general (armed) violence or crime in Burundi. This map is crisis-driven and therefore its scope is limited to those events of violence and protest that are linked to the 2015 political crisis and election season. General violence, crime and protests that are unrelated are not mapped. There are other resources that capture this information comprehensively (see, for example: http://cnapburundi.bi/mapping/cause/).

Team

This project is led by a Canadian NGO in partnership with Burundian civil society organizations, who form the project’s management team and contribute information, resources, etc. to the project. Their identity will remain anonymous for the duration of the project. This project is supported by a team of volunteers from the United States, Italy, Burundi and Canada.

Sources

The map data is drawn predominantly from independent local and international news outlets, other maps, and social media reports. Only sources deemed by the team to be impartial and independent are included. The team makes this decision based on the reputation of the outlet and research. The source of each report is listed on each individual event on the map so that those who use the map can make their own assessment as to whether they deem the source reliable and independent. Outside of this vetting process, we do not independently verify reports.

Below you will find a list of our sources. The list is dynamic and therefore may change over time.

1) Red Cross Burundi

Situation reports: http://www.croixrougeburundi.org/index.php/fr 

2) Tweets

While many international and local journalists have now left Burundi, we monitor the Burundi hashtag (#Burundi) regularly to find tweets that report relevant events of violence and protest. Only tweets which are posted by reporters from reputable news agencies working on the ground (RFI, Le Monde, etc.) are mapped. This means we do not map every tweet reporting violence. As there are currently not many local news outlets reporting in Burundi, the tweets usually come from international journalists.

3) Local journalists/press

SOS Medias Burundi: https://www.facebook.com/sosmediasburundi?fref=ts

We map all reports of violence and protests produced by SOS Medias Burundi, a pop-up media group of Burundian journalists that was formed in response to the attack on freedom of the press in Burundi. Their reports are posted via Facebook.

Iwacu http://www.iwacu-burundi.org/

Iwacu is an independent Burundian newspaper that has been covering the protests and violence since they began at the end of April 2015. Reports are pulled from their website.

Local radios

Radio Bonesha, Radio Isanganiro, RPA (ALL CURRENTLY SUSPENDED)

4) Local CSO partners

We have partnered with local civil society organizations that provide reports from all across Burundi. These reports are then integrated onto the map. This process of original reporting has not yet been launched.

5) Other maps

Our goal is to establish one central repository where every incident of violence and protest during the election period/political crisis in Burundi is mapped. Therefore, we also pull data from other maps that present original source reports on violence and protests in Burundi.

IFES http://burundielections.ushahidi.com/

Events mapped by IFES are produced by trained citizen reporters. We check their events on a daily or weekly basis to cross-reference with our own events. Any events found that we have not already mapped are added.

Inama/Peace Direct http://burundi.peacedirect.org/main

Events mapped by Inama/Peace Direct are produced by trained citizen reporters. We check their events on a daily or weekly basis to cross-reference with our events. Any events found that we have not already mapped are added.

6) Crowd

Reports from the crowd can be submitted directly using an online form or on Twitter using the hashtag #cartebuja2015. An SMS option has not yet been set-up for the general public and there are no plans to do so currently. We currently receive few to no reports from the crowd. Reports we receive are only accepted and placed on the map when the sender and information has been vetted and verified.

Duplicate events

We check our list of reports before mapping any event to ensure that it has not already been mapped. If information is missing from the first report, the information from the second will be added to supplement it (if it has additional information) and the source cited in addition to the original source. If multiple sources report the same event with similar information, all sources will be listed in the event record.

But, if the event is different in any significant way, for example, if it takes place on a different street, at a different time of day, or involves different activities/actors, then it would be entered as a separate event. If it isn’t clear from the source whether the incident differs from a previously mapped incident, the default is to combine it with the other event.

Categories 

All categories that apply are selected in the reporting form. However, if violence of any kind was involved at a protest, then it is coded as “Affrontements/clashes” and not “Manifestations pacifique/peaceful protests” – these are mutually exclusive. This includes the use of tear gas, shooting in the air, etc. If there is any mention of a weapon (or injury clearly caused by a weapon, like a gunshot) then the type of weapon is indicated even if an injury or death didn’t result from its use. Tear gas is not considered a weapon. Deaths and injuries are broken down by victim group (protesters/civilians, press, police and military). Those who don’t easily fit into one of these categories are usually coded as civilians. Members of the Imbonerakure (youth wing of the party in power in Burundi; CNDD-FDD) are considered civilians. Despite rumors that they have been armed, they are technically civilians and so considered civilians in our system.

Location of events 

The most specific location known is entered onto the map. Sometimes the location cannot be found on Open Street Map in the system. In such cases, the location is approximated by checking other available maps (Google maps, etc.).

Link to press sources 

The link to the website, specific tweet or Facebook post from which the report is drawn is always included. If there are multiple sources which have contributed data to the report, or which all report the same event/data, they will all be listed. 

External video links and photos 

Links to videos or photos corroborating/documenting the information in the report are provided when available. More often, these kinds of resources are available on the webpage of the source listed. 

Interested in collaborating? Contact us at 2015burundi@gmail.com