Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently reported that military forces in Burkina Faso executed at least 233 civilians in attacks on two villages: Nondin and Soro, events characterized as “among the worst army abuse in Burkina Faso since 2015”.
There is, as yet, no official justification from the military on the reason for these attacks. A day after the attacks, in an interview with a local radio station, Defense Minister Mahamoudou Sana did not acknowledge these mass killings. Instead, he discussed Islamist hostilities against Burkina Faso’s armed forces occurring on the same day. Villagers, however, believe these attacks were retaliation for skirmishes between Islamist groups and the military.
Executive Director of HRW Tirana Hassan iterated that the massacres in Nondin and Soro are just the latest examples of civilian mass killings perpetuated by the Burkina Faso military in their counterinsurgency operations. HRW posits that this counterattack could potentially be deemed a crime against humanity as defined by Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. However, achieving justice in such cases can be complicated by lack of international cooperation and political instability.
Burkina Faso came under military control following a successful coup d’état in October 2022. Since then, armed groups have orchestrated terror campaigns across mostly insurgent-controlled territories. The political instability and international non-cooperation are obstructing attempts to bring these alleged crimes to justice.
Earlier this year, UN High Commissioner Volker Türk expressed concern that the predicament in Burkina Faso “has slipped off the international agenda and the resources made available are totally insufficient to respond to the scale of people’s needs.” This followed an alarming rise in human rights violations and a looming humanitarian crisis in the country.
The UN is compelling the international community to reconsider and prioritize the needs of Burkina Faso as the situation continues to worsen.