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(Nairobi)– Burkina Faso Authorities should urgently and impartially investigate a video posted on social media showing soldiers in the Burkina Faso army dismembering and disemboweling a person, Human Rights Watch said today. All those suspected of committing the crimes, regardless of rank, should be appropriately prosecuted.
The video, which circulated on social media in late July 2024, shows at least 18 men in recognizable military uniforms standing by, two of whom use knives to cut open a decapitated and dismembered body. statementBurkina Faso Army Chief of Staff Major Celestine Simbore condemned “these brutal acts that violate moral and military values.” He claimed that “steps have been taken” to find the location of the video and those responsible, but did not announce a criminal investigation.
“This horrifying video showing soldiers dismembering bodies highlights the widespread lack of accountability for atrocities committed by Burkina Faso’s military in recent years,” he said. Ilaria AllegrozziSenior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Burkinabe authorities should immediately launch a transparent, impartial investigation into this brutal incident and appropriately punish all those responsible.”
Human Rights Watch reviewed the 81-second video, interviewed five people familiar with the incident, and obtained an expert assessment from a forensic expert. Experts in media forensics also analyzed the video file.
In the video, a man in military uniform leans over a mutilated body on the ground, with a prominent Burkina Faso flag hanging on its left shoulder. Next to it is a human head, and next to it is another body. The man in military uniform thrusts a knife below the sternum and begins cutting. He then thrusts his arm into the cavity, seemingly trying to remove body parts, but without success.
Another man in military uniform slashed the body 24 times with what looked like a small sword, opening the body’s sternum. Then the first man took out a knife and cut what looked like an organ out of the body. He stood there with the organ in his hand while other men in military uniforms gathered around him. Someone shouted in French, “Motherland or death!” (For the country, not to die in battle!): A common slogan in Burkina Faso Link In the 1980s, the late Burkina Faso revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara adoption Controlled by the current military government.
Four of the men had the colors of the Burkinabe flag printed on the left lapel of their military jackets or T-shirts, in keeping with Burkinabe military uniforms. The men in uniform could be heard saying in French that they were members of the Bataillon d’Intervention Rapide (BIR-15), a special forces unit involved in counterinsurgency operations against Islamist armed groups, and members of the army unit Cobra 2, an elite unit. connect Meeting with Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso.
Many of the people shown in the video were carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles and wearing protective tactical vests. Three of them were wearing military helmets. Their equipment was similar to video In December 2023, Burkina Faso’s state television released a video on YouTube announcing the creation of a new rapid intervention battalion. The man who appeared to be removing organs was carrying a pistol.
In November 2022, President Traoré create Six rapid intervention battalions were created to support military operations against Islamist armed groups. The number of these special forces has since increased fourfold, to at least 25. BIR-15 What create Presidential Decree of October 25, 2023, Traoré appointment Two days later, Captain Paul Belen assumed command.
Burkina Faso media reported that BIR-15 Station A source in Gawa in the southwest said the video was probably filmed there or in surrounding areas, which have been affected by the conflict. Two sources, one of whom is close to the military, told Human Rights Watch that the video was filmed near Nouna in the Boucle du Mouhoun region between April and May.
Human Rights Watch could not independently determine where or when the video was filmed, but the languages heard in the video — French, Moorish, and Bobo — and the military uniforms worn by the individuals involved suggest it was filmed in Burkina Faso. Human Rights Watch found no versions of the video online before July 23, 2024. Media forensics and AI-generated and manipulated experts at the Deepfakes Rapid Response Unit, an initiative of the nongovernmental organization WITNESS, analyzed the video file and concluded there was no clear evidence that the video was manipulated by AI.
The army chief of staff said in a statement that the men in the video “are allegedly members of the Burkinabe Defence and Security Forces and Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (Volontaires pour la défense de la patrie, VDPs).” These are local civilian auxiliaries, first deployed in 2020, who accompany the soldiers during their operations. Increase Using VDP, recruiting starts in October 2022 50000 More. Human Rights Watch said the uniforms and equipment of the men in the video appeared to confirm the involvement of defense and security forces.
The armed conflict in Burkina Faso has seen numerous atrocities committed by both government security forces and Islamist armed groups. Impunityfueling a cycle of abuse and reprisals. Human Rights Watch has previously documented serious human rights violations in the Rapid Intervention Camps and the VDP, including cause and effectYatenga Province, April 2023. Border Guard soldiers are also suspected of Solo and Nordin In February.
Burkina Faso government forces have been fighting the al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) since armed groups entered the country from neighboring Mali in 2016. Blockbuster territory, attacking civilians and government security forces, and Fighting each otherThe conflict has killed thousands of people since 2016, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a disaggregated data collection, analysis and crisis mapping project that has forced More than 2 million people Leave their home.
Customary international humanitarian law The law applicable to the conflict in Burkina Faso prohibits “mutilation of corpses”. Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Burkina Faso is a party, mutilation of corpses in non-international armed conflicts is a war crime of “outrages on personal dignity”. Human Rights Lawthe United Nations Human Rights Committee has noted that disrespectful treatment of remains may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of the family of the deceased.
“The Burkinabe authorities should restrain military units and civilian auxiliaries responsible for violations, and fully investigate and prosecute those suspected of abuses,” Allegrozzi said. “The governments concerned must pressure the military junta to stop the atrocities shown in the video.”
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