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afrol News, 7 February - The human rights group Amnesty International yesterday called on the government of Burkina Faso to investigate allegations made by the Burkina Faso Human and Peoples' Rights Movement that security forces, in a crackdown against increasing insecurity, have committed extra-judicial killings. 106 extra-judicial executions have taken place over the past three months, the group claims. According to the Burkinabe movement, the unburied dead bodies were found handcuffed, bullet-ridden and "thrown to the dogs and vultures". Reports say the bodies were found throughout the country, in areas such as Bobo-Dioulasso, Kaya, Ougadougou and surroundings, Boulsa and Ouahigouya. Amnesty said the government "should immediately investigate" the movement's claim that, in the past three months, 106 extrajudicial killings have taken place. According to the group, the bodies, which the government says are those of bandits, have been found throughout the country, including the capital, Ouagadougou. Amnesty said the Burkinabe authorities should carry out an "exhaustive, impartial and independent" inquiry in order to determine those responsible and if excessive force was used against presumed criminals. Burkina Faso's security minister, Djibril Bassole, acknowledged on Monday that security forces had killed scores of armed robbers in recent months during an anti-banditry campaign launched in 2001, but defended the forces by saying that they "have no option but to respond accordingly" in dealing with armed gangs. - The Minister's statement is regrettable as it constitutes a prejudgment and hints that no investigation will be set up, Amnesty commented in a statement yesterday. The group urges the government to reconsider its position and carry out an investigation to find those responsible for the killings. "All those suspected of being responsible for the killings must be brought to justice according to international standards of fair trial," the group stated. The Burkinabe rights association revealed the situation last week. According to its secretary-general, Chrosogone Zougmore, in the same period, there had been 1,605 robberies in which 34 civilians were killed. The government of Burkina Faso has frequently reacted adversely to public demands for an end to impunity in Burkina Faso, Amnesty recalls. On 13 December 1998 the badly burned bodies of Norbert Zongo, an independent journalist, and his three companions, Ernest Zongo, Ablassé Nikiéma, and Blaise Ilboudo were found in and around a vehicle about 100 kilometres from Ouagadougou. The Independent Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the deaths concluded that Norbert Zongo had been killed for purely political reasons and named five suspects. Members of a coalition formed to press for those responsible for the killings to be brought to justice and for an end to impunity, were arrested and detained. Demonstrations against impunity were prevented or dispersed by the security forces. Only one of the five suspects named by the Commission has so far been indicteds.
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