Burkina Faso halts BBC and VOA radio programs due to their reportage of executions

Authorities said late on Thursday that Burkina Faso had banned the radio transmissions of Voice of America (VOA), which is supported by the United States, and BBC Africa for a period of two weeks due to their reporting on a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that charged the army with extrajudicial killings.

The watchdog stated in a report based on its own investigation that as part of a campaign against civilians suspected of working with Islamist terrorists, the military of the West African nation summarily murdered roughly 223 villagers in February, including at least 56 children.

HRW noted that the Burkinabe army has frequently carried out mass murders of civilians under the pretext of combating terrorism and urged authorities to look into the atrocities.

The nation’s communication council, however, declared that HRW’s report contained “peremptory and tendentious” statements about the army that would likely cause public unrest and that it would stop the broadcasters’ shows in response to their reporting on the subject.

In a statement, the authorities said they had given internet service providers orders to block access to the websites and other digital platforms of Human Rights Watch, VOA, and the BBC from Burkina Faso.

After a regional prosecutor stated in March that approximately 170 people were killed by unknown attackers during attacks on the villages of Komsilga, Nodin, and Soro, HRW launched its investigation.

Along with several other Sahelian countries, Burkina Faso has been fighting to suppress Islamist insurgencies that, since 2012, have extended from neighboring Mali, murdering thousands of people and uprooting millions. These insurgencies are linked to both the Islamic State and al Qaeda.

Since 2020, frustrations with the government’s disregard for citizen safety have fueled two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso, and one in Niger.