Burkina Faso: Karma massacre survivors demand justice and truth

A Burkinabe soldier patrols in the town of Ouahigouya, Yatenga province, October 29, 2018. (Illustrative photo) AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO

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The victims of the Karma massacre, which occurred on April 20, broke their silence on Tuesday, April 25. They recalled that it was men in military uniforms who surrounded their village very early in the morning, before carrying out mass murders. If the prosecutor of Faso estimated the number of victims at sixty, the nationals, they think that they are more than a hundred, including the elderly, women, children and even babies.

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It was following a meeting, which was held on the morning of April 25, that survivors and relatives of the victims of the Karma massacre decided to issue a statement. They wanted to return to the attack on their village, located in the province of Yatenga, in northern Burkina Faso. "It's important that people know the truth," says one villager.

It starts with an accurate tally of the number of victims. However, it was only this morning that the survivors obtained permission to bury their dead. On Monday, access to the village of Karma remained impossible. "The army had blocked the road at the Ouahigouya-Youba axis," the statement said. "Mobile phones were removed and some photos deleted" before return, he added.

« Let this not happen again »

This Tuesday, the survivors ask to be heard in order to preserve social cohesion. "We have been in contact with the administrative and judicial authorities in the hope of having support," the statement said, adding that there had been "no reaction." "Despite this killing, we remain committed to the values of the transition and the army. We would have liked the authorities to hear it and to work together so that this does not happen again," says one survivor.

According to a source close to the Ouahigouya prefecture, for the time being, no support system is planned for the victims, other than their care at the city's hospital.

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, spokeswoman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani called for "a full and independent investigation into the latest horrific killing of civilians in Burkina Faso." It recalls that the Karma massacre is "one of many other attacks reported against civilians by the armed forces and the VDP (Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland) in recent months".

>> READ ALSO: Burkina bereaved by a new attack, 40 soldiers and auxiliaries killed

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