Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that military forces in Burkina Faso executed at least 233 civilians in attacks on two villages. It labels the attacks as “among the worst army abuse in Burkina Faso since 2015.”
These two mass killings occurred in the villages of Nondin and Soro on February 25. At the moment, there is no official justification by the military for the reason of the attacks. In an interview with a local radio station a day after the attacks, Burkinabè Defense Minister Mahamoudou Sana did not refer to these mass killings. Instead, the he stated the Islamist hostilities against Burkina Faso’s armed forces that had occurred on the same day.
HRW reported that villagers believe the attacks were perpetrated as retaliation for these incidents between Islamist groups and the military. Executive Director of HRW Tirana Hassan underlined the line of aggression from the military, stating, “The massacres in Nondin and Soro villages are just the latest mass killings of civilians by the Burkina Faso military in their counterinsurgency operations.”
This counterattack against civilians may be considered a crime against humanity, HRW claimed. Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines a crime against humanity as any act, including among others, murder, extermination, and other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population. Under the Rome Statute, cases can be brought before international courts for judgment—although international cooperation is essential for this to happen.
A factor that hinders preventive measures in these cases is, as Hassan expresses, “the repeated failure of the Burkinabè authorities to prevent and investigate such atrocities.”
Burkina Faso fell under the control of the military after a successful coup d’état in October 2022. Since then, armed groups have continued terror campaigns across the territory which is mostly controlled by insurgents. The political instability and lack of cooperation with international actors are preventing these alleged crimes against humanity from being brought to justice. UN High Commissioner Volker Türk stated earlier this year that the situation 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.” His comment follows an increasing number of human rights violations and a humanitarian crisis in the country.
The UN reiterated its call for the international community to consider the needs of Burkina Faso as the situation still develops.
