THE government of Burkina Faso has suspended the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA) radio stations for reporting mass executions of civilians by the country’s military forces, as detailed in a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.

According to the country’s Superior Council for Communication (CSC) spokeswoman, Tonssira Myrian Corine Sanou, both radio stations would be suspended for two weeks, warning other media networks to avoid reporting the story.

“The programmes of these two international radio networks broadcasting from Ouagadougou have been suspended for a period of two weeks”, she announced.

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The CSC spokeswoman further added that BBC Africa and the United States-funded VOA had also published the report on their digital platforms, stating that the report by HRW contained “peremptory and tendentious declarations against the Army likely to create public disorder and it had hasty and biased declarations without tangible proof against the Burkinabe Army”.

The CSC also noted that the country’s internet service providers had been ordered to suspend access to the websites and other digital platforms of the BBC, VOA and HRW from Burkina Faso.

According to HRW’s findings, the massacre seemed to be a part of a larger military operation against civilians who were thought to be working with armed organizations.

The report revealed that about 44 people, including 20 children, were slaughtered by the nation’s military in Nondin village, while 179 people, including 36 children, were killed in nearby Soro village of Thiou district in the northern Yatenga province.