The Superior Council of Communication (CSC) of Burkina Faso said in a statement on Sunday that it had suspended several more international news outlets for covering a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing the country’s military of killing civilians.
According to the CSC, TV5 programs are suspended for two weeks, while access to the websites of TV5 Monde, Deutsche Welle, West-France, Le Monde.fr, ApaNews, The Guardian and AgenceEcofin will be suspended indefinitely until further notice. The CSC stated that it suspended these programs because of their accusations of the Burkinabè army’s actions on civilian populations in the northern and northeastern parts of Burkina Faso. Last Thursday, Burkina Faso suspended the Voice of America (VOA) and BBC/Africa programs for similar reasons.
The measures follow an HRW report issued last Thursday, which accused Burkinabè military forces of executing at least 233 civilians in attacks on two villages. The report labeled the attacks as “among the worst army abuse in Burkina Faso since 2015,” which “may amount to crimes against humanity.” Nevertheless, Burkinabè Communications Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo rejected HRW’s allegations on Saturday, calling them “peremptory” and denying that the ruling junta was unwilling to investigate the alleged atrocities.
After its services were suspended, VOA stated that the company was “concerned about restrictions on its content demanded by the government of Burkina Faso.” Acting Director John Lippman said “VOA stands by its reporting about Burkina Faso and intends to continue to fully and fairly cover events in that country.” Stating that the company “strictly adheres to the principles of accurate, balanced and comprehensive journalism,” Lippman asked the Burkinabè government to reconsider the decision. A spokesperson of BBC/Africa similarly stated that “the suspension reduces the BBC’s ability to reach audiences with independent and accurate news.”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international non-governmental organization, denounced on Monday the serious and abusive decisions of Burkina Faso to suspend the media services and called for the government to overturn the decisions.
Burkina Faso, together with the neighboring Mali and Niger, is one of the three Sahel countries that have been combating Islamist insurgencies. Burkina Faso fell under the control of the military after a successful coup d’état in October 2022. Since then, armed forces have continued terror campaigns across the territory that insurgents mostly control. In 2023, HRW observed an increasing number of human rights violations and a humanitarian crisis in the country following the coup.
