Burkina Faso Authorities Expand Media Ban Amid Allegations of Massacre Cover-Up.
By Caroline Ameh
In an alarming turn of events, authorities in Burkina Faso have extended their crackdown on media outlets following their coverage of an alleged massacre perpetrated by the Burkinabe army against civilians.
The decision to suspend additional foreign media outlets was made public over the weekend, seven days after the military government had already suspended prominent organizations such as the BBC, Voice of America, and Human Rights Watch (HRW). This move included the cessation of broadcasts and the blocking of websites in response to HRW’s damning report released on Thursday.
According to HRW, Burkinabe troops are accused of orchestrating the killing of at least 223 individuals in attacks on two villages near the Mali border on February 25th, with an alarming number of victims, approximately 56, being children.
In a statement issued by Burkinabe authorities on Monday, the media coverage surrounding these accusations was condemned as an attempt to discredit the country’s armed forces.
The latest round of suspensions targeted several more outlets, including Le Monde, TV5Monde, Deutsche Welle, and Agence Ecofin, alongside The Guardian. Access to their respective websites has been blocked indefinitely, as stated by authorities.
The suspensions have drawn widespread criticism, with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denouncing them as “grave and abusive decisions.” HRW’s report characterized the alleged mass killings as part of a broader military campaign targeting civilians suspected of collaborating with Islamist armed groups, potentially constituting crimes against humanity.
In response to the report, Burkinabe Communications Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo dismissed its claims as baseless, accusing HRW of indulging in “boundless imagination.”
These restrictions on media are the latest in a series of measures imposed by the junta led by Ibrahim Traoré, who, at 36, became Africa’s youngest leader following a coup in September 2022. Particularly targeted are French media outlets, reflecting strained relations between Burkina Faso and its former colonial power.
Traoré’s rise to power unfolded against a backdrop of escalating insurgent violence originating from neighboring Mali since 2015, precipitating political instability across the Sahel region. The conflict has resulted in over 2 million displaced individuals and thousands of casualties among civilians and security personnel in Burkina Faso. Even with the change in political leadership, violence persisted, with a surge in 2023 resulting in approximately 8,000 deaths, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled).
This ongoing conflict has led to a war against armed non-state actors, with reports emerging of the army and state-backed vigilantes resorting to torture or killing of villagers suspected of aiding or harboring rebels.
