Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced in a report on Wednesday July 8, extrajudicial executions of 180 people in recent months in Djibo, in the north of Burkina Faso, involving Burkinabè armed forces.

"Mass graves containing at least 180 bodies have been discovered in the past few months, and available evidence suggests the involvement of government security forces in extrajudicial mass killings," said the human rights organization.

According to residents of Djibo, the dead, all men, were abandoned in groups of 3 to 20 along the main roads, under bridges, as well as in fields and vacant lots. These are residents who buried the bodies in mass graves "in March and April", "with the approval of military and local authorities," said HRW.

According to testimony, the majority of the victims were men belonging to the Fulani and Fulani ethnic groups, among whom the jihadist groups that have bloodied Burkina Faso for five years recruit mainly.

Request for impartial investigations

"The authorities of Burkina Faso should urgently reveal who made Djibo a site for summary executions," said West Africa director HRW Corinne Dufka, quoted in the report. "Existing information points to government security forces, so it is essential to carry out impartial investigations," she said. 

In response to these allegations, the government has committed to opening an investigation, explaining that these executions may have been committed by armed groups (jihadists, editor's note) using army uniforms and logistical means stolen during attacks. , according to HRW.

Djibo is located in one of the regions most affected by the jihadist attacks, which have left the country more than 1,100 dead since 2015, and forced nearly a million people to flee their homes.

With AFP

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR