APA – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) – These mood swings follow the American reaction to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.
On Friday, several hundred people demonstrated in front of the US embassy in Ouagadougou to denounce the joint statement by the United States and the United Kingdom on the HRW report accusing the army of abuses against civilians.
Responding to a call by the National Coordination of Citizen Watch Associations, the demonstrators asked the United States “not to interfere in Burkina’s internal affairs.”
They also demanded that the Americans clarify their position “vis-à-vis the sovereign orientation of the salvific transition, led by patriotic authorities and a dignified, professional army”.
The diplomatic compound was closed, no doubt because of the demonstration, and guarded by the national police.
The demonstration, which took the form of a sit-in, lasted about an hour.
Media bans
On Thursday, the government summoned American and British diplomats following the publication of a joint statement by the United States and the United Kingdom, repeating the allegations of massacres of civilians made by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) against Burkina Faso’s armed forces.
In a report published at the end of April, HRW accused the Burkinabe army of killing civilians in the north of the country in February 2024.
In a press release, the transitional government “strongly rejects and condemns such unfounded accusations” aimed at “discrediting our fighting forces, who are fighting in the field of honor, at the risk of their lives.
In response, the interim authorities suspended several international media outlets, including APA, for publishing articles about the report.
DS/ac/lb/APA