Burkina Faso suspends French TV channel’s broadcasts over report on 'army abuses'

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Burkina Faso suspended broadcasts of French television channel TV5 Monde on Sunday in its latest crackdown on media outlets for drawing attention to a report by Human Rights Watch that accuses the army of killing more than 220 civilians in February.

“The College of Councilors, meeting in an extraordinary session, decided to suspend the broadcasting of the programs of the international television (channel) TV5 Monde in Burkina Faso for a period of two weeks,” the Supreme Council for Communication said in a statement.

The Council “found the content to be biased and likely to violate public order, thus violating Burkina Faso's broadcasting law.”

The authorities also blocked access to the television’s website as well as websites of six other international news networks, including the French newspapers Ouest France and Le Monde, the British daily The Guardian, the German channel Deutsche Welle, news agency APAnews and Agence Ecofin.

The decision came days after the Council suspended broadcasts of BBC Africa and Voice of America in the country for featuring news stories about the report.

The transitional government has termed "baseless" accusations against the army contained in the Human Rights Watch report released last week.

The landlocked African country is grappling with insecurity and witnessed two coups in 2022.