Burkina Faso junta rejects HRW mass killings report
Burkina Faso’s military government has rejected a damning report by Human Rights Watch (HRW that accused its forces and allied militias of killing more than 1,800 civilians since Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in 2022. The government described the findings as “false” and “serious unfounded claims,” insisting that its troops operate with professionalism.
In a statement released Sunday, officials said the report’s “only one purpose… [is] to demonise” the country’s armed forces. The dismissal follows HRW’s detailed account attributing 1,255 of the deaths to the military and its civilian auxiliaries, known as Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), while blaming Islamist militants for the remainder.
HRW documented 57 incidents between January 2023 and August 2025, including attacks that killed dozens of children. The group argued that President Traoré and six senior commanders “may be liable as a matter of command responsibility for grave abuses and should be investigated.” It also named five jihadist leaders as culpable.
“The scale of atrocities taking place in Burkina Faso is mind-boggling, as is the lack of global attention to this crisis,” said Philippe Bolopion, HRW’s executive director. The report accused the junta of “horrific abuses” and of obstructing independent reporting to conceal civilian suffering.
One of the deadliest episodes cited occurred in December 2023, when HRW alleged that the military and VDP militias killed more than 400 civilians in Djibo, a northern town. Survivors described the violence as “butchery.” A 35-year-old woman recounted losing her two daughters instantly, while she and her infant son were wounded. “Make sure no-one is breathing before heading out,” she recalled a militia member saying.
The report also highlighted atrocities by jihadist group JNIM, an al-Qaeda affiliate that has entrenched itself across Burkina Faso and neighboring states. In August 2024, HRW said JNIM gunmen killed at least 133 people and injured more than 200 in under two hours. Civilians told investigators they felt “caught between a rock and a hard place,” threatened by jihadists while also targeted by government forces.
Traoré, who ousted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in September 2022, has defended conscription policies and argued that “individual freedoms [are] not superior to national freedom.” His government has faced repeated accusations of forcing critics into militia service as punishment. Despite his authoritarian reputation, the 38-year-old leader has cultivated a following across Africa for his pan-Africanist rhetoric and rejection of Western influence. Burkina Faso, along with Mali and Niger, has pivoted toward Russia for military support, though violence continues unabated.
HRW is urging the International Criminal Court to open a preliminary investigation into alleged crimes committed by all parties since the junta’s rise. It has also called on Burkina Faso’s international partners to impose sanctions and halt cooperation with the army.
Source: BBC
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