“This investigation concludes that the Burkinabè armed forces are responsible for the murder of at least 223 civilians, including around fifty children in two villages located in the north of Burkina Faso”explains Philippe Dam, Europe director of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).
According to the NGO report, army attacks in villages constitute “reprisals” to the deadly operations carried out by Islamist terrorist groups in the region.
Civilians, targeted by the army, are accused of having helped armed groups. This massacre is part, according to the NGO, of a series of mass killings of civilians as part of “counterinsurgency operations”, declares Tirana Hassan, executive director of HRW cited in this report.
All of the civilians killed on February 25, 2024 lived in the two villages of Soro and Nondin, located in the Thiou district, in the north of the country. According to the NGO, 179 people, including 36 children, were killed in the first, 44 people, including 20 children in the second.
A country plagued by massacres
“Today, Burkina Faso is the country which suffers the greatest number of murders linked to activities to fight extremist groups”, deplores Philippe Dam. According to figures from the NGO, more than 8,000 people will have died from it in 2023.
HRW’s Europe director notes: “This accumulation of crimes and complete lack of accountability leads us to conclude that these are probably crimes against humanity,” said Philippe Dam of the NGO. For the moment, the Burkinabe authorities have not responded to the accusations.
These are probably crimes against humanity.
Philippe Dam, Europe director Human Rights Watch
On March 21, following a brief visit to Burkina Faso, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, declared in a press release that he had received “insurance” from the Burkinabe president that “measures are taken to ensure that [le] behavior [des forces de sécurité] is fully consistent with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”on background of information “reporting serious violations committed by security forces which must be thoroughly investigated and remedial measures.”
A dark day
The NGO report documents this day of February 25 in the two villages. The teams interviewed survivors. Members of the NGO recovered videos, photos and satellite images of the scene of the massacre.
This February 25, members of the armed forces returned to the villages of Nondin, then to Soro, five kilometers further. A little earlier in the day, around 7 a.m., a jihadist attack broke out in Ouahigouya, the capital of the province, causing civilian and military victims. The event is part of a large, coordinated operation across the country that began a day earlier. A military convoy made up of around a hundred soldiers and vehicles is sent to hunt down the Islamist fighters.
(Re)read Burkina Faso: 170 dead in a single day in three village attacks
Between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., approximately 30 minutes after a group of armed Islamist fighters passed near Nondin, the army stopped in this village. Soldiers go door to door, ordering people to come out and show their ID cards. “They said, ‘You support the jihadists! You’ll see!'”testifies a farmer from Nondin to the NGO Human Rights Watch.
They made us sit down, then opened fire on us.
A 61-year-old man who lost 11 members of his family in the village of Nondin
The villagers are then rounded up by the soldiers and divided into groups, again according to the NGO report. That’s when the army opened fire, also shooting down those trying to flee or hide. “They made us sit down, then opened fire on us. They shot us like that and killed all my family members. I was hurt because I raised my hands for ‘mercy’. A bullet went through my armpit and another pierced my right thigh.”, says a 61-year-old man who lost 11 members of his family. The scenario is repeated an hour later in Soro.
“Unacceptable retaliation”
On February 26, families of victims presented themselves to the Ouahigouya gendarmerie brigade to file a complaint against the army. The prosecutor of the high court decides to open an investigation.
(Re)see Burkina Faso: a call for witnesses after the deadly attacks of February 25
“These are unacceptable reprisals. The role of the armed forces is to protect civilians, protests Philippe Dam. HRW’s Europe director continues: “unfortunately in Burkina Faso, civilians today are constantly caught in the grip of Islamist groups and government forces. They are paying the high price for the violations committed in this country.” The NGO calls for a “awakening” of the international community, in particular the African Union and the European Union.
A war against the Islamists
Led by soldiers who took power by force in 2022, Burkina Faso has been fighting an insurgency since 2015 led by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, linked to Al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State. in the Great Sahara. These two armed movements rule large swaths of territory and attack both civilians and government forces.
This violence left nearly 20,000 dead and more than two million displaced. According to Acled. This organization lists the victims of conflicts around the world, 439 people were killed in this violence during the month of January 2024 alone.
(Re)read The EU calls on Burkina Faso “to shed light” on a “massacre”
Since the fighting escalated, the army has been accused of killing civilians. On November 12, 2023, the European Union called on the military regime to “shed light” on a “massacre” civilians which reportedly left around a hundred dead in the village of Zaongo, in the North-Central region of Burkina Faso. According to Human Rights Watch, the army is responsible. Hundreds of people were also killed on December 19, 2023 near the town of Djibo, in the Sahel region, again because of the army according to HRW.
