Burkina Faso on Sunday suspended several more international news organizations, some of them for an indefinite period, over their coverage of a report accusing the army of extrajudicial killings, its communications regulator said.
This follows similar action last week, when Burkina Faso temporarily suspended the programs of Voice of America and BBC/Africa following the broadcast of news stories about a Human Rights Watch report accusing the Burkinabe army of abuses against civilian populations.
Among those named in the weekend order are French newspapers Le Monde, Ouest-France, British publication The Guardian, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and French broadcaster TV5 Monde, the Superior Council of Communication (CSC) said.
TV5 Monde’s broadcasts would be suspended for two weeks, while access to its website would be blocked, the junta-led West African country’s communications council said.
The websites of Deutsche Welle, Le Monde and Ouest-France, The Guardian and African agencies APA and Ecofin have also been blocked until further notice, the CSC said.
Reuters was not able to immediately reach the media groups for comment.
On Saturday, Burkinabe government spokesperson Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo rejected HRW’s allegations as “peremptory” and denied that the authorities were unwilling to look into the alleged atrocities.
“The killings … have led to the opening of a judicial investigation,” Ouedraogo told Reuters, citing a March 1 statement by a regional prosecutor.
On Thursday, the CSC on Thursday ordered the immediate halt of the rebroadcasts and suspension of the programs of VOA and BBC/Africa for two weeks. Access to the websites and digital platforms of BBC, VOA and Human Rights Watch was also suspended within Burkina Faso.
The Human Rights Watch report accused the Burkina Faso military of summarily executing at least 223 civilians in two villages in late February.
In its broadcast of the story on the Human Rights Watch report, VOA sought reactions from several Burkinabe officials but did not receive any response.
“VOA stands by its reporting about Burkina Faso and intends to continue to fully and fairly cover events in that country,” the outlet’s acting director John Lippman said Friday in a statement.
“We ask the government of Burkina Faso to reconsider this troubling decision,” he said.
A BBC spokesperson had a similar message: “The suspension reduces the BBC’s ability to reach audiences with independent and accurate news. We will continue to report on the region in the public interest and without fear or favour.”
Press freedom groups also condemned the suspension of the two outlets.
“The suspensions extend a pattern of censorship in the country, which has included previous suspensions of several French and local outlets,” Jonathan Rozen, the senior Africa researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA in a statement.
Military-ruled Burkina Faso has in recent months suspended other Western news outlets, including the French television broadcasters LCI and France24, French radio broadcaster Radio France Internationale, the French daily newspaper Le Monde and the French magazine Jeune Afrique.
“Journalists in Burkina Faso should not have to contend with censorship by authorities in addition to challenges of reporting amid insecurity in the country,” Rozen said.
Sadibou Marong, the director of the Reporters Without Borders sub-Saharan Africa bureau, agreed, calling the suspensions “yet another blow to press freedom” in Burkina Faso.
“They [authorities] are using suspensions against those who dare to report freely,” added Marong, who is based in Senegal’s capital Dakar.
Burkina Faso is one of several West African nations in the Sahel region, including Mali and Niger, that have been combating Islamist insurgencies. The military seized power in a 2022 coup, citing the government’s failure to put down a jihadist insurgency that erupted in 2015.
The West African country was once lauded as a regional leader in media freedom.
“It used to really be a success story in terms of press freedom in Africa,” Marong said. But that status came to an end following military coups in January and September 2022, he noted.
The decision to suspend VOA and the BBC come just one week ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
VOA’s Liam Scott contributed to this report. Some information came from Agence France-Presse, Reuters and The Associated Press.
