Broadcast Media Africa has learnt that Burkina Faso has temporarily suspended the Voice of America and BBC Africa programs following the broadcast of news stories about a Human Rights Watch report accusing the Burkinabè army of abuses against civilian populations.
The Superior Council of Communication ordered the immediate halt of the rebroadcasts and suspension of the programs of both international radio stations for two weeks. Access to the websites and digital platforms of BBC, VOA, and Human Rights Watch was also suspended within Burkina Faso.
“VOA stands by its reporting about Burkina Faso and intends to continue to cover events in that country fully and fairly,” the outlet’s acting director, John Lippman, said in a statement Friday.
“We ask the government of Burkina Faso to reconsider this troubling decision,” Lippman noted.
A BBC spokesperson had a similar message: “The suspension reduces the BBC’s ability to reach audiences with independent and accurate news. We will continue to report on the region in the public interest and without fear or favour.”
Press freedom groups also condemned the suspension of the two outlets.
“The suspensions extend a pattern of censorship in the country, which has included previous suspensions of several French and local outlets,” Jonathan Rozen, the senior Africa researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA in a statement.
Military-ruled Burkina Faso has suspended other Western news outlets in recent months, including the French television broadcasters LCI and France24, the French radio broadcaster Radio France Internationale, the French daily newspaper Le Monde, and the French magazine Jeune Afrique.
Sadibou Marong, the director of the Reporters Without Borders sub-Saharan Africa bureau, agreed, calling the suspensions “yet another blow to press freedom” in Burkina Faso.
“They [authorities] are using suspensions against those who dare to report freely,” added Marong, based in Senegal’s capital Dakar.
Burkina Faso is one of several West African nations in the Sahel region, including Mali and Niger, that have been combating Islamist insurgencies. The military seized power in a 2022 coup, citing the government’s failure to put down a jihadist insurgency that erupted in 2015.
The West African country was once lauded as a regional leader in media freedom.
“It used to be a success story regarding press freedom in Africa,” Marong said. But that status ended following military coups in January and September 2022, he noted.
The decision to suspend VOA and the BBC comes just one week before World Press Freedom Day, May 3.
