Politics

Calls grow for protection of journalists in Burkina Faso, Mali

Published

12 months ago

May 3, 2023

In the face of continued threats against media in the West African sub-region, journalists’ bodies and other advocacy groups are asking for improved security for journalists in Mali and Burkina Faso.

The body of media outlets, in an open letter, stated that the situation of journalists in Burkina Faso had become “critical” and demanded urgent action taken.

Some of the signatories to the letter include Burkinabe media outlets, the Malian television station, Joliba, the French media, France 24, Libération, Le Monde, and Radio France Internationale, as well as journalists’ associations and rights organizations.

The body said it was surprised about “calls for the murder of journalists and opinion leaders, threats and intimidation of the national press, grotesque set-ups against journalists, suspension of the international media RFI and France 24 the expulsion of correspondents from the French newspapers Libération and Le Monde”.

The letter stated that a similar situation occurred in Mali where “pressure and intimidation” were on the increase against journalists and media outlets.

“The fight against terrorism must never be used as a pretext for imposing a new information standard,” they say, referring to the spread of jihadism and all kinds of violence facing the two Sahelian countries.

But, increasingly, the attacks are also the work of “influencers” who, on social networks, “play vigilante and do not hesitate to threaten journalists and opinion leaders who are too independent in their eyes with death,” they add.

The West Africa sub-region has witnessed a series of military coups in recent years, specifically in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso.

The coup wave in the sub-region has triggered demonstrations that have been dealt with with stiff measures by the ruling government, arrest of journalists and shutting of local media outlets, as well as the expulsion of some foreign media.

Related Topics:Burkina Faso Featured Mali Press freedom

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Politics

Burkina Faso investigating reports of northern killings

Published

11 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A government spokesman has revealed that Burkina Faso is looking into reports that 223 people were killed by the Burkinabe army in two villages in the north in February.

The killing was first reported by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), causing a rift between the junta-led West African state and some foreign media that published the report. The HRW report released on Thursday said that the military had executed residents of Nodin and Soro, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians suspected of working with jihadist terrorists. The report was based on interviews with witnesses, members of civil society, and other groups.

Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, a spokesman for the government, said that HRW’s claims were “peremptory” and that the junta was not unwilling to look into the claimed crimes.

“An investigation has been launched into the killings in Nodin and Soro,” Ouedraogo said in a late-evening statement, quoting a statement from a regional prosecutor on March 1.

Since Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s militaries took over in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023, violence in the area has gotten worse. This is because of the ten-year fight with Islamist groups related to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Attacks on Burkina Faso got much worse in 2023, with more than 8,000 people killed, according to the U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.

Politics

S’Africa lengthens troop deployment in Mozambique, Congo DR

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech that South Africa’s military would keep sending troops to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are both in the middle of wars.

The extension will leave 1,198 members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo for an unknown amount of time. They are there as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force helping Congo fight rebel groups.

The statement also said that 1,495 members of the SANDF would keep working in Mozambique, where they have been since 2021 helping the government fight dangerous extremism in the north.

After two SANDF troops were killed and three were hurt by a mortar bomb in Congo in February, South Africa’s military operations abroad have been looked at more closely at home this year.

Meanwhile, the major opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, said that Ramaphosa sent troops into a war zone without being ready.
Under the supervision of the UN, the SANDF has taken on many dangerous and difficult peacekeeping tasks over the years to help war-torn African countries stay stable and peaceful.

In 2003, South Africa was one of the first countries to send troops to Burundi to help the peace process. During the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peacekeeping mission in 2000, the SANDF led attempts to stabilize the country’s politics, rebuild and improve infrastructure, and train DRC troops.