Burkina Faso - April 2024

A report published on 25 April by human rights NGO, Human Rights Watch, found that in February 2024 Burkina Faso’s army had massacred 223 civilians. According to HRW, whose findings were based on witness testimony and verified video footage and photographs, soldiers had carried out the massacre in two villages in Burkina Faso’s northern, Yatenga province, an area of the country affected by an ongoing civil conflict between the government and Islamist rebels. The killings followed attacks by the rebels on military targets during the preceding two days and HRW alleged that they were part of a retaliatory campaign against civilians suspected of collaborating with the Islamists. The report described the massacre as ‘among the worst army abuse in Burkina Faso since 2015’ and suggested that it may amount to crimes against humanity.

Sources: Human Rights Watch, The Guardian    

In late April, Burkina Faso blocked access to the websites of a growing list of foreign media outlets over their coverage of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing its army of massacring 223 civilians in February 2024. Among those outlets affected were the BBC, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, Le Monde and The Guardian, some of which have been suspended indefinitely. Burkina Faso’s media regulator, the Superior Council of Communication (Le Conseil supérieur de la communication, CSC), justified the suspensions on the basis that the report constituted ‘disinformation likely to bring discredit to the Burkinabè army.’

Sources: Jeune Afrique, Human Rights Watch, Voice of America, British Broadcasting Corporation