Army accused of executing civilians and babies – DW – 25/04/2024

At least 223 civilians, including 56 children, were executed in two villages by Burkina Faso soldiers on February 25, 2024, international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report. on Thursday.

The HRW report documented the stories of 23 people, including 14 who witnessed the killings and verified the survivors’ videos and photos of the aftermath of the atrocity.

The massacres are believed to be the worst military abuses in the West African country in almost a decade and appear to be part of a wide-ranging campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with Islamist militants, HRW said.

Murders in Nondin and Soro villages are ‘crimes against humanity’

Tirana Hassan, executive director of HRW, condemned the failure of Burkinabe authorities to prevent and investigate the cases. She said the lack of consequences from local authorities “underlines why international assistance is critical to support credible investigations into possible crimes against humanity.”

Burkina Faso’s army killed 44 people, including 20 children, in the village of Nondin and 179 people, including 36 children, in the nearby village of Soro, the HRW report said, adding that people in the villages were accused of plotting with militants.

These are not the first such crimes. On November 5, a similar massacre attack was carried out by the army in another village, killing at least 70 people, including babies, after they were accused by the army of collaborating with militants, the Associated Press news agency reported, citing verified stories.

Witnesses and survivors of the February 25 attack told HRW that the killings appeared to be a response to an Islamist attack on a military base near Ouahigouya, just 25 kilometers away.

A representative of the government of Burkina Faso did not comment on the attack on the villages on February 25. The government has previously denied any civilian killings and emphasized that jihad fighters often disguise themselves as soldiers.

The country has survived two coups in 2022. Nearly a decade ago, mass executions in Burkina Faso began to escalate amid jihadist violence linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group. They arrived from neighboring Mali in 2015. More than 20,000 people have been killed since then, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit.

These mass killings are seen as part of the military’s harsh response to insurgent attacks, which it often calls part of counter-terrorism operations.

ac/sms (HRW, AP, EPD)