The “interim” leader of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, greets Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Saint Petersburg in July 2023| Photo: EFE/EPA/ALEXEY DANICHEV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN
The government of Burkina Faso suspended the radio stations of the British BBC and Voice of America, a broadcasting service financed by the United States government, because both reported the release of a report by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) on mass executions of practices practiced by the African country’s Army.
According to information from the Associated Press (AP), the government of Burkina Faso suspended the two radio stations for two weeks and warned that other press organizations should also not publish information about the report.
The document had been released on Thursday (25) by HRW, which reported that the Army killed 223 civilians, including 56 children, in villages accused of cooperating with dissident militants.
Burkina Faso has been experiencing a security crisis since 2015, and the actions of jihadist groups and power struggles have already led to the deaths of more than 20,000 people and the displacement of more than 2 million Burkinabés. The country went through two coups d’état in 2022.
Faced with the security crisis, the country moved away from France, whose former colony it was, and approached Russia in search of military help.
Last week, the government of Burkina Faso announced the expulsion of three French diplomats for alleged participation in “subversive activities”.