Burkina Faso: Armed Islamists Kill, Rape Civilians

Human Rights Watch said today that as the conflict in Burkina Faso intensifies and widens, armed Islamist groups, government security forces, and militia are committing more abuses against civilians.

The Burkina Faso government, which took power in a coup in January 2022, should do more to protect the population and ensure that government forces respect human rights.

Armed Islamist groups, which began attacking Burkina Faso in 2016, have grown increasingly abusive, carrying out hundreds of killings, summary executions, civilian rapes, and widespread pillaging.

In addition, since 2016, government security forces and militias engaged in counterterrorism operations are accused of killing hundreds of civilians and suspected Islamist fighters, fueling recruitment into armed groups.

The fighting has displaced 1.8 million people, the majority of whom are from the country's Sahel and Centre-Nord regions.

“Armed Islamist groups are demonstrating day after day their profound disregard for the lives and livelihoods of civilians,” said Corinne Dufka, Sahel director at Human Rights Watch.

“Government forces and associated militias must scrupulously uphold international human rights and humanitarian law and desist from killing in the name of security.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed 83 survivors and witnesses to incidents in Burkina Faso's Boucle du Mouhoun, Cascades, Centre-Nord, Est, Nord, Sahel, and Sud-Ouest regions between September 2021 and April 2022 in Ouagadougou, the capital, and Kaya from April 7 to 21, 2022.

Medical professionals, security analysts, government officials, foreign diplomats, United Nations representatives, and aid workers were also interviewed by Human Rights Watch.