File picture of a mural in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Military forces in Burkina Faso killed 223 civilians, including babies and many children, in attacks on two villages accused of cooperating with militants, Human Rights Watch said in a report
| Photo Credit: AP

Military forces in Burkina Faso killed 223 civilians, including babies and many children, in attacks on two villages accused of cooperating with militants, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Thursday.

The mass killings took place on February 25 in the country’s northern villages of Nondin and Soro, and some 56 children were among the dead, according to the report. The human rights organisation called on the United Nations and the African Union to provide investigators and to support local efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

“The massacres in Nondin and Soro villages are just the latest mass killings of civilians by the Burkina Faso military in their counterinsurgency operations,” Human Rights Watch Executive Director Tirana Hassan said in a statement.

“International assistance is critical to support a credible investigation into possible crimes against humanity.”

The once-peaceful nation has been ravaged by violence that has pitted jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group against state-backed forces. Both sides have targeted civilians caught in the middle, displacing more than 2 million people, of which over half are children. Most attacks go unpunished and unreported in a nation run by a repressive leadership that silences perceived dissidents.

The HRW report provided a rare firsthand account of the killings by survivors amid a stark increase in civilian casualties by Burkina Faso’s security forces as the junta struggles to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency and attacks residents under the guise of counterterrorism.

Earlier in April, The Associated Press verified accounts of a November 5 army attack on another village that killed at least 70 people. The details were similar — the army blamed the villagers for cooperating with militants and massacred them, even babies.

Witnesses and survivors told HRW that the February 25 killings were believed to have been carried out in retaliation for an attack by Islamist fighters on a military camp near the provincial capital Ouahigouya, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away.

The toll of civilian deaths was higher than first described by local officials. A public prosecutor previously said that his office was investigating the reported deaths of 170 people in attacks carried out on those villages.

A Burkina Faso government spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment about the February 25 attack. Officials previously denied killing civilians and said jihadi fighters often disguise themselves as soldiers.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Burkina Faso since jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group first hit the West African nation nine years ago, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a United States-based nonprofit.

Burkina Faso experienced two coups in 2022. Since seizing power in September 2022, the junta led by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré has promised to beat back militants but violence has only worsened, analysts say. Around half of Burkina Faso’s territory remains outside of government control.

Frustrated with a lack of progress over years of Western military assistance, the junta has severed military ties with former colonial ruler France and turned to Russian instead for security support.

Bangladesh on Sunday released two leading human rights activists on bail, after they challenged their two-year sentences that critics say are part of a crackdown ahead of elections.

Adilur Rahman Khan, 63, and Nasiruddin Elan, 57, have led the Odhikar organisation for decades, working to document thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances of opposition activists, and police brutalities.

Last month, a court sentenced the pair to two years in prison over a fact-finding report they compiled 10 years ago on extrajudicial killings.

Elan said he and Khan were freed from Dhaka Central Jail on Sunday evening after the high court granted them bail pending an appeal hearing.

“We are fine. I have just arrived at my home,” Elan told AFP, after spending a month in prison.

Several foreign governments have expressed concern over the political climate in Bangladesh ahead of general elections due before the end of January.

The ruling party dominates the Bangladeshi legislature and runs it as a virtual rubber stamp.

Odhikar has been documenting human rights violations in Bangladesh since 1994. It has worked closely with United Nations bodies and global human rights groups.

Last month, the UN voiced alarm at what it said was Bangladesh’s use of legal proceedings to intimidate and harass rights advocates and civil society leaders.

Both men “have faced harassment and intimidation”, UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in early September.

Dhaka reacted angrily to the UN comments, calling them a “flagrant disrespect” of the country’s justice system.

Last year, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cancelled Odhikar’s operating licence after accusing it of tarnishing Bangladesh’s image, prompting a chorus of condemnation from rights advocates.

A group of 72 international rights groups had earlier condemned the sentencing and demanded the men be released.

Dharamshala:

The Dalai Lama on Saturday congratulated jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi on winning the Nobel Peace Prize and said the award was also in recognition of the vital role women play in people’s lives. Mohammadi, 51, was awarded the prize on Friday in recognition of her tireless campaigning for women’s rights and democracy and against the death penalty.

In a letter to her on Saturday, the Tibetan spiritual leader said, “Today, the values of democracy, transparency, respect for human rights, and equality are increasingly recognised on every side as universal values, which can only benefit us all.”

“I have met and held discussions with previous Nobel laureates, including your sometime colleague, Mrs. Shirin Ebadi. I admire their efforts to overcome discrimination against women and improve society in a peaceful way. I believe that the award of this Nobel Peace Prize is also in recognition of the vital role women play in the lives of us all from the very day we are born,” the Dalai Lama wrote.

He said there is a growing desire for change in the world, a change that will see conflicts resolved through dialogue and non-violence.

“The foundation of such change will be kindness, compassion and human responsibility. I believe that this goal can be achieved through education based on a deeper appreciation of the oneness of humanity. Because we are so interconnected, this is a question of the well-being of us all,” he wrote.