‘Killing field’ warning

Army suspected of extrajudicial killings after 180 bodies found in Burkino Faso graves

AT LEAST 180 bodies have been found in mass graves in northern Burkina Faso, with evidence suggesting the government army was involved in large-scale executions and turning the area into a “killing field”, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

The bodies of the men had been dumped in groups of up to 20 under bridges, in fields and in vacant lots, the rights group said in a new report.

The killings took place between November last year and June, and the majority of the dead were found by residents within 5km of the government-controlled town of Djibo, in the country’s Sahel region.

This is the latest in a string of growing accusations of extrajudicial killings by Burkina Faso’s military, which is struggling to stem jihadist violence that is spread across the country.

So far, almost 1 million people have been internally displaced. Last month Amnesty International documented gross human rights violations committed by the security forces between March and April, including forced disappearances and killings.

In May, 12 people who had been arrested as suspected extremists were found dead in cells in eastern Burkina Faso after being held overnight, according to a government statement at the time.

A local rights group and civilians say the government was responsible for the deaths.

“The growing number of allegations of extrajudicial killings by the army is deeply worrying, and the lack of progress on investigations suggests a lack of political will,” Corinne Dufka, the West Africa director for Human Rights Watch, told Associated Press.

The jihadists posed a genuine threat and had killed many people with brutal disregard for life, but killing suspects in the name of security was as unlawful as it was counterproductive, she said.

The report, based on 23 interviews, alleged that government security forces were responsible for the majority of the killings and that most of the victims were ethnic Fulani herders, who had been blindfolded, bound and shot.

The country’s Fulani ethnic group, who are generally Muslim, have been increasingly targeted by the military and local defence militias for their alleged affiliation with Islamist factions, say rights groups.

Djibo, where many Fulanis live, has been at the epicentre of the violence and has been blockaded for months as jihadists have put landmines in the roads leading to the town.

Several locals told AP that it was common to see bodies strewn along the road in the morning.

They blame those deaths on the military, although their charges could not be verified.

The international community is urging Burkina Faso’s government to make sure that its troops uphold basic rights.

In a statement yesterday, the US said the government must investigate the allegations and “honour the state’s responsibility to protect its citizens”.

The government didn’t respond to AP’s request for comment, but in a 3-page letter to Human Rights Watch, the Ministry of Defence pledged to investigate the mass graves.

It said the killings occurred during a surge in attacks by armed Islamic extremists and suggested the killings could have been carried out by these groups who were using stolen army uniforms and equipment.