Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report Tuesday urging authorities in Burkina Faso to investigate following the August 24 attack on civilians by the armed group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM). The attack, which occurred at a military trench digging site in the village of Barsalogho, left casualties of over 133 dead and 200 people injured.
HRW further states that the civilians working on the trench were forcibly conscripted by soldiers under threat of beatings and other coercion. A direct quote from an individual who survived the JNIM attack stated: “On the day of the attack, some soldiers came to my door and ordered me to go dig the trench.” He had no choice but to work on the digging, as the soldiers “beat [him] with a rope,” and forced his compliance. HRW states that “the government has put [civilians] at unnecessary risk,” and that if the labor was indeed forced by the soldiers, the security forces have broken the laws of Burkina Faso. The report asserted that machinery has been contracted to complete the trench, demonstrating that manual labor was both cruel and unnecessary for any military outcome.
Another issue arises in defiance of the “laws of war” that prohibit attacks on civilians unless they are “directly participating in the hostilities.” As working on the trench does not constitute participation in hostilities, JNIM committed a war crime in the attack.
Vision of Humanity ranks Burkina Faso as number one in its “Overall Terrorism Index Score,” which creates an index based on “incidents, fatalities, injuries, and hostages.” As of 2023, the score was 8.571, nearly 0.4 points higher than the second-ranking nation of Israel. The statistic is in light of recurrent military coups that have seen the disestablishment of strong governance amidst the “growing jihadist insurgency that has plagued the region as well as weak civilian oversight of the military.” Corruption has also been highly prominent within the nation, “divert[ing] resources away from critical security needs, weakening the military’s operational capabilities [and] eroding the trust between the armed forces and the civilian government.”
A statements made by the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights, Ben Saul, on August 30 corroborates that of Human Rights Watch: “Both countries must investigate these crimes in line with international law and apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators to ensure justice for victims.” He also urged “the Government of Burkina Faso to investigate reports that civilians in Barsalogho were coerced into digging ditches to defend the town in advance of the attack. If true, the coercion would [violate] international law.”
