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30-04-2024
OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso has suspended a number of Western and African media over their coverage of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing the army of extrajudicial killings, its communications authority said on Sunday.
The move follows similar suspensions of BBC Africa and the US-funded Voice of America for reporting on the HRW investigation that alleged the Burkinabe military executed about 223 villagers in February as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants.
The junta-led West African country’s communications council said French television network TV5Monde’s broadcasts would be suspended for two weeks, while access to its website would be blocked.
The websites of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, French newspapers Le Monde and Ouest-France, British newspaper the Guardian, and African agencies APA and Ecofin have also been blocked until further notice, it said.
Media was not able to immediately reach the media groups for comment.
On Saturday, Burkinabe government spokesperson Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo rejected HRW’s allegations as “peremptory” and denied that the authorities were unwilling to look into the alleged atrocities.
“The killings … have led to the opening of a judicial investigation,” Ouedraogo said, citing a March 1 statement by a regional prosecutor.
Violence in the region fueled by a decade-long fight with Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State has worsened since respective militaries seized power in Burkina Faso and neighboring Mali and Niger in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023.
Burkina Faso saw a severe escalation of deadly attacks in 2023, with more than 8,000 people reportedly killed, according to US-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.
Burkina Faso has suspended the radio broadcasts of BBC Africa and the US-funded Voice of America (VOA) for two weeks over their coverage of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing the army of extrajudicial killings, authorities said late on Thursday.
In the report based on its own investigation, the rights watchdog said the West African country’s military summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, in February as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants.
HRW said the Burkinabe army has repeatedly committed mass atrocities against civilians in the name of fighting terrorism, and it called on authorities to investigate the massacres.
The country’s communication council said HRW’s report contained “peremptory and tendentious” declarations against the army likely to create public disorder, and it would suspend the programs of the broadcasters over their coverage of the story.
Authorities also said in a statement they had ordered internet service providers to suspend access to the websites and other digital platforms of the BBC, VOA and Human Rights Watch from Burkina Faso.
“The BBC has received a letter from the Conseil Superieur De La Communication confirming the suspension of our broadcast operations in Burkina Faso for two weeks in direct response to our journalism on a recent report by Human Rights Watch accusing Burkina Faso’s military of civilian killings,” a BBC spokesperson said. “The suspension reduces the BBC’s ability to reach audiences with independent and accurate news. We will continue to report on the region in the public interest and without fear or favor.” (BBC)
