A civil society coalition has criticized the United Nations for interfering in the country’s internal affairs.
On Friday morning, June 7, hundreds of people demonstrated in Ouagadougou to protest a new report published by the United Nations (UN) accusing the army of abuses against civilians.
Gathered at the Place de la Nation on the initiative of the National Coordination of Citizen Watch Associations (CNAVC), the demonstrators marched in front of the building that houses the offices of the United Nations (UN) system in Ouagadougou, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as observed by an APA journalist.
In particular, they criticized the UN body for publishing a new report in late May accusing Burkina Faso soldiers and their auxiliaries of abuses against civilians.
The civil society coalition said it had learned “with surprise and indignation of accusations made against the brave Burkinabè soldiers, accusing them of massacring civilians.”
These accusations are “extremely serious (…), unjust, but also deeply hurtful to those who risk their lives every day to protect their people.”
For the CNAVC, the Burkinabe army is made up of “conscientious soldiers who have demonstrated their professionalism in several UN missions around the world.”
The demonstrators called on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to “translate the reality of Burkina Faso accurately and without slanderous distortion,” failing which they would be forced to “demand his departure from the country.”
At the end of May 2024, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed his “deep concern at the recent increase in the killing of civilians” throughout the country.
Burkina Faso has always denied these allegations, saying its soldiers fight armed groups with professionalism and respect for human rights.
DS/ac/lb/as/APA