Since gaining independence in 1962, Burundi has experienced several violent conflicts, including a civil war that took place between 1993 and 2005. The common denominator of these conflicts was the politicization of divisions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. The civil war was triggered by the assassination of the first democratically elected president, Melchior Ndadaye, by Tutsi elements in a failed attempt to overthrow the government. The civil war is estimated to have caused more than 300,000 deaths and over 1 million displacements. In order to bring the civil war to an end, three major agreements were signed with varying degrees of success, namely, the 1994 Convention of Government, the 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, and the 2004 Burundi Power-Sharing Agreement.
