APA – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) – The United Nations last week recommended that the authorities in Ouagadougou set up a mechanism to verify allegations of the existence of mass graves in the central Sahel country.
In a statement issued on Tuesday 5 March, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances expressed concern about “the numerous allegations of enforced disappearances (…) committed by the armed forces or by armed groups, such as the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP), acting under the control, with the authorisation or with the acquiescence of the state.”
The committee, made up of independent experts, said it had received information about the existence of several mass graves, particularly in the villages of Karma and Djibo in the north of the country.
The UN has called on “the state to ensure that each identified mass grave is preserved and examined using forensic methods.”
The UN also suggested that the transitional authorities “ensure that the identification of all missing persons is specifically and effectively integrated into the tasks and objectives of the technical and forensic police and is accessible to all victims.”
The Committee urged Ouagadougou to take all necessary measures to put an end to enforced disappearances and to investigate all allegations of disappearances, to prosecute those responsible and, if found guilty, to impose penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime.
“It is also necessary to strengthen the control of the VDP in order to effectively prevent and punish any act of enforced disappearance attributed to its members,” the UN added.
Burkina Faso’s armed forces and their auxiliaries are regularly accused of abuses against civilians.
The independent experts said they had received assurances from the government that the fight against terrorism would not be “ethnically based”.
DS/ac/lb/as/APA