Karma massacre in Burkina Faso: authorities react to ECOWAS' Sissoko Embalo's statement

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

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In Burkina Faso, the government is questioning Umaro Sissoco Embalo. After the execution of nearly 150 people in the village of Karma on April 20, the head of state of Guinea-Bissau and current president of ECOWAS used the term "genocide" to describe the massacre. A definition deemed "hasty and peremptory" by the Burkinabe authorities, whose army is accused by Karma nationals of being responsible for these assassinations.

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A surprise: this is how the government of Burkina Faso describes its reaction to the sight of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo's tweet dated April 27. The head of state of Guinea-Bissau effectively condemned "the genocide perpetrated in Karma" before continuing: "those responsible for these killings will be identified and tried by the International Criminal Court".


#Communiqué The Government of Burkina Faso was very surprised by the content of a tweet on April 27, 2023, published on behalf of the #CEDEAO...

Read 👇👇👇https://t.co/I1yUIlMxZd#Com_Gouv_BF#SIGBurkina#BurkinaFaso pic.twitter.com/RTZzPKLskM

— SIG Burkina Faso (@sigbf) May 2, 2023

On behalf of ECOWAS @ecowas_cedeao, I condemn with great firmness and indignation the genocide perpetrated in Burkina Faso in the Karma region. With my full sympathy, I offer my saddened condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and wish speed...

— Umaro Sissoco Embaló (@USEmbalo) April 27, 2023

In a statement dated the same day, the ECOWAS Commission drove the point home by stating "that the targeting of communities can be treated as genocide according to the provisions of the ICC".

Read also: The authorities, ECOWAS and a collective each condemn the killing of Karma

The Burkinabe authorities consider that such a "serious qualification (...) must be carried out under the light of an investigation" already opened by the High Court of the city of Ouahigouya. They point in particular to the interference of the current president of ECOWAS with the justice of the country.

On April 20, 147 villagers from Karma, including 45 children, were executed by assailants identified as elements of the 3rd Rapid Intervention Battalion, a unit of the Defense and Security Forces created in late 2022 by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of the Transition.

READ ALSO: The survivors point the finger at the defense forces in the massacre of Karma

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  • Burkina Faso
  • ECOWAS