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A teacher described seeing 10 armed men in the courtyard: “They had Kalashnikovs [assault rifles], and some were wearing khaki, like police uniforms...
Some were turbaned.” 66 The men captured two teachers, stripped them of their belongings, and plundered the school of motorcycles, phones, money, bags, and some discarded backpacks children had left behind. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
67 One teacher said: They intercepted me... One [attacker] came over and said in Fulfulde, “We should cut his throat.” But another said, “Take him.” So he took off his turban and used it to tie my hands behind my back.
...
There was a covered area situated between two of the school buildings, and they set it on fire.
... One of them removed the gasoline from a moto-tricycle and tossed it in my classroom, on top of my documents, and set it alight. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
After setting the fires, they told us to get on their motorcycles.
We were each flanked between two guys.
... On the way, we stopped, and they blindfolded me.
Then we continued and stopped a second time, in the bush.
...
They asked, “What type of education do you give to the students, French or Arabic?”... 65 Specific date and location withheld for security reasons.
66 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher, Est region, February 12, 2020.
67 Ibid. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
67 Ibid.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 38 They started beating [my colleague] first, then me.
I couldn’t see, because I was still blindfolded, but they used a whip of some type... the blows hit us on our backs.
...
They said, “You knew we didn’t want you here teaching, and still you dared to continue... You have defied us.” They said if they come back and take us a second time, it will be to remove our heads.
68 The second teacher recounted a similar story. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
68 The second teacher recounted a similar story.
“They beat me with a whip, 10 blows on my back.
...
It still hurts, even now,” he said in February.
69 The attack led to closure of several schools in the area. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
December 2019 (Boucle du Mouhoun): Two School Employees Threatened, One Beaten In an attack on a village school in Tougan commune, Sourou province, the night of December 10, 2019, armed men reportedly beat the school guard, threatened a school administrator at his residence, and set fires in the school.
70 The administrator said that he saw around 20 armed men arrive at the school, dressed in military attire and carrying walkie-talkies; some covered their faces with turbans. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
He explained: They broke the door [of my house]... and entered.
...
They asked me where the teachers were.
I said they lodged in the village, but I didn’t know where exactly.
...
They asked me if there was a storeroom with food supplies.
They had me open the door [of the administrative building]... but there was almost nothing in the storeroom, only two bags of rice...
In my office... they piled all the books and documents on the ground, poured a canister of gasoline, and set it alight. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Then they set a fire in the storeroom, and in [another] office.
...
They said to tell the teachers they didn’t want to see anyone teaching there.
One said, “Under the regime of [president] Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, there will be no school.” 68 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher, Est region, February 12, 2020.
69 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher (2), Est region, February 12, 2020.
70 Human Rights Watch interview with school principal, Tougan, Boucle du Mouhoun region, March 9, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
39 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 The burned windows (left) and ceiling (right) of a village school in Tougan commune, Boucle du Mouhoun region, damaged in an attack by armed men on December 10, 2019.
The attackers also threatened a school administrator and beat the school guard.
© 2019 Private As the men forced him outside, the administrator noticed the guard “tied up with his hands behind his back.” Before the group left, he heard them beating the guard. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
71 Three months later, the school remained closed, with many of its 383 students still in the village.
72 November 2019 (Boucle du Mouhoun): Principal Abducted In late November 2019, armed men abducted the principal of the Biron village high school, in Bourasso commune, Kossi province.
A teacher from Biron primary school reported that armed men on motorcycles entered both schools in the village on the day of the kidnapping, causing students and teachers to flee. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The principal was allegedly abducted 71 Human Rights Watch interview with school administrator, Tougan, March 10, 2020.
72 Human Rights Watch interview with school principal, Tougan, March 9, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 40 while walking to his residence, and released a few days later in Koudougou, some 160 kilometers away.
“The next Tuesday [when he returned to Biron] I spoke with him, but... he couldn’t respond.
... he seemed traumatized,” the teacher said. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
... he seemed traumatized,” the teacher said.
73 October 2019 (Sahel): Two Teachers Assaulted, Schools Burned One night in October 2019, during attacks on the grounds of two village primary schools in Yagha province, two teachers were restrained and one beaten.
74 A dozen armed men surprised the first teacher at his residence at the school at 11:30 p.m.
The men threatened him with death, set fires, and stole teachers’ phones and motorcycles. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The teacher recounted: They grabbed my arms and tied them behind me, with a rope.
... [They] entered my house and gathered my belongings—school documents, my diploma, clothes, everything... and set it on fire.
...[T]hey burned the other two teachers’ houses as well...
They asked me, did I still teach French?
I said yes, and they said they wanted me to teach Arabic only... they said I should convert to become a Muslim.
... After they finished burning everything... they untied me and left. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The school has been closed ever since.75 At the second school, around midnight, assailants found the teacher sleeping in a classroom, as the school had no teachers’ housing.
The teacher said: I heard the noise of motorcycles outside...
They said to come out showing my hands...
There were around ten of them, heavily armed—even the police that I’ve seen don’t have these types of weapons!
They had belts with lots of ammunition, rocket-launchers, Kalashnikovs, knives.
One guy even had three guns... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
One guy even had three guns...
They grabbed my arms and chained them behind my back with the chain from the door.
They entered and said, “We will kill you, but we’ll first see what’s in the house.”...
I thought, “Today is the end of my days.” ... 73 Human Rights Watch interviews with teacher, Kossi province, Boucle du Mouhoun region, January 10 and 17, 2020.
74 Specific date and locations withheld to protect survivors. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
75 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher formerly in Yagha province, location withheld, February 24, 2020.
41 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 They took everything—my motorcycle, bags, phones, clothes, food supplies, everything—then gathered all the documents inside the classroom and set them on fire.
They told me to go sit... and the leader came over... they knew I was a Muslim...
They said I’d taken the wrong path, and instead of teaching French I should teach in Arabic.
... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
...
They said... since I asked in the name of God, they wouldn’t cut my throat—but they would beat me with 10 strokes of the whip.
But if they ever saw me in this school again, or another school, they would kill me. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
They used the cables from the solar panels—one [of them] beat me 10 times, and another took over and hit me an eleventh time, but another blocked his hand and said, “Leave it.” 76 The principal, who was away the day of the attack, noted that the school closed the very next day due to the “fear and psychosis.” 77 April 2019 (Est): Three Teachers Abducted On April 19, 2019, three teachers from a village primary school in Partiaga commune, Tapoa province, were allegedly abducted and held for three days. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
78 A teachers’ union representative for Partiaga who had investigated the incident described what happened: Around 5 p.m., the jihadists came to the primary school.
...
They gathered three [teachers]... and took them away on motorcycles into the bush.
Some students saw what happened... [The teachers] spent three days and two nights with the jihadists… They had stolen their motorcycles, clothes, bottles of gas, and phones.
...
When [the armed Islamists] dropped them at the school, they whipped them. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
... After this, we suspended all [school] activities in Partiaga for a month.
79 76 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher formerly in Yagha province, location withheld, February 3, 2020.
77 Human Rights Watch interview with school principal formerly in Yagha province, location withheld, February 3, 2020.
78 Human Rights Watch interviews and correspondence with member of the National Coalition for Education for All (CN- EPT/BF), Boucle du Mouhoun region, February 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
79 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher’s union representative for Partiaga, Tapoa province, Est region, February 17, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 42 November 2018 (Nord): Five School Employees Beaten The afternoon of November 12, 2018, armed men infiltrated a middle school in the village of Toulfé, in Titao commune, Loroum province. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
They arrived while the teachers and students were in class, forced five school employees—the principal, two administrators, and two teachers—out of their classrooms and offices, berated them and beat them.
The attackers spoke Fulfulde and French.
A survivor recounted: We were already living in psychosis—we knew that one day or another the jihadists would come, so the students were constantly looking out the window.
They saw when the men arrived that day. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
They saw when the men arrived that day.
The children started screaming, jumping out the classroom windows, running... One [attacker] pointed his gun at me—he carried an AK47 [Kalashnikov] and was wearing military uniform.
His face was covered, but he removed his turban before speaking.
He said he was in the group Ansaroul Islam and he was there for jihad.
He said... they’d already said to stop teaching French, so why were we still teaching French?
... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
...
He took a paper out of his pocket, a message, and asked us to transmit it to the Burkinabè authorities.
...
The message said they no longer want any French education in Soum and Loroum provinces.
...
They took out some kind of whip or belt...
They beat us one at a time, really hard... Everyone was beaten, all five of us.
Afterwards, there were marks, and it hurt to lie down.
... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
...
Some students in [grade] 4ème hadn’t had time to run away—the jihadists had told them to get down quickly or they’d shoot, so they were there watching when they beat us.
...[T]hey were crying.80 80 Human Rights Watch interviews with former Toulfé middle school employee (Loroum province, Nord region), location withheld, February 16-17, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
43 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 During a November 2018 attack, armed men beat five school employees in Toulfé village, Nord region, and gave them a note that reads, in French: “Ansaroul Islam forbids school in the province of Soum and the province of Loroum.
After this warning, if we find a teacher teaching we will kill him.
Democracy [is] barred.” © 2018 Private Before leaving, the men set fire to one of the school’s offices. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
A parent, who arrived at the scene shortly after, recalled: “At the school we found the fire still burning.
We found the teachers there who had been beaten, some so severely that they couldn’t speak...
They were in shock.” 81 The school remained closed following the attack.
May 2018 (Centre-Nord): Principal Assaulted, Residence Burned In May 2018, armed men attacked a village primary school principal on school grounds in Sanmatenga province.
82 Two other teachers escaped. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
82 Two other teachers escaped.
83 The principal said: It was around 3 p.m. on a Wednesday, which is a half-day, so we had already released the students at noon.
I was preparing lessons for the next day [when] they surprised me at the residence, which is also my office.
...
I went out and found six armed men on three motorcycles.
They had war weapons—I think Kalashnikovs, with ammunition belts.
They wore turbans and military uniforms, and they had a black flag with white writing in Arabic. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
... 81 Human Rights Watch interview with parent of student, Ouahigouya, Nord region, February 5, 2020.
82 Specific date and location withheld for security reasons.
83 Human Rights Watch interview with local government official, Kaya, Centre-Nord region, February 5, 2020; interview with former principal of a school in Sanmatenga province, Centre-Nord region, February 9, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 44 I’m a Muslim, so I started reciting Surahs of the Quran. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
… They blindfolded me and pushed me down... One kicked me in the head...
They demanded where was my money, the key to my motorcycle, my phones.
...
They said, “You have knowledge of the Quran, so why didn’t you use it to teach?” ...
They told me to stop teaching French, and said they no longer wanted to see me in the school.
...
I heard them set a fire in my house.
After the motorcycles left, I stayed on the ground for two hours... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
When I got up, I found everything charred—there was nothing left in my house.
84 After the attack, the school closed, and its 303 students were unable to finish the year.
The school reopened in late 2018 but closed again due to insecurity in early 2019. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
85 April 2018 (Sahel): Two-Month Abduction of Teacher On April 12, 2018, Issouf Souabo, a teacher in Bouro village, Nassoumbou commune, Soum province, was abducted from school by six armed men, in an attack that also resulted in the killing of student Sana Sakinatou, who was shot but not targeted.
86 The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara took responsibility for the abduction on April 17, informing the media that Souabo had been targeted for teaching in French. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
87 Several sources, including two witnesses, described to Human Rights Watch what happened.
One witness recounted: “At around 4 p.m., when children were in class, around five armed men came to the school.
They fired a round of shots in the air—people started running.
... [Souabo] was not able to escape—he was taken by force by the attackers… they left toward the North.” 88 Another said: “We heard gunfire outside, and the children started screaming and running.
... [The armed men] grabbed [Souabo]... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
... [The armed men] grabbed [Souabo]...
They said they’d told teachers to leave the area, but [they’d] stayed, so that’s why they came.” 89 84 Human Rights Watch interview with former principal of a school in Sanmatenga province, Centre-Nord region, February 9, 2020.
85 Ibid.
86 See section IV of this report, “Attacks and Abuses Against Students”; see also Human Rights Watch, “By Day We Fear the Army, By Night the Jihadists,” pp.
21-22. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
21-22.
87 RFI Afrique, “Burkina Faso : le groupe jihadiste EIGS revendique le rapt d’un enseignant.” 88 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Bourou, April 17, 2018.
(See Human Rights Watch, “By Day We Fear the Army, By Night the Jihadists,” pp.
21-22.)
89 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, location withheld, February 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
45 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 The attackers forced Souabo to his home, stole his possessions, and took him away by motorcycle to an unknown location, where they kept him blindfolded and tied with his arms behind his back for almost two months.
They freed him in June 2018, but he suffered long-term physical pain as a result of the attack.
He no longer works as a teacher. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
He no longer works as a teacher.
90 Threats and Intimidation In dozens of other cases documented by Human Rights Watch, presumed armed Islamists threatened, harassed, and intimidated education professionals to cease teaching in French, or to leave the locality.
These cases occurred as individuals were intercepted on the road while traveling, at individuals’ homes, during diatribes by armed men to village populations, and at schools during attacks or threatening visits. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Cases in which teachers were threatened in the presence of their students during attacks on schools are described in section V. Detained on the Road In addition to the four abovementioned cases of teachers abducted from the road and killed, Human Rights Watch documented three cases of education professionals detained and threatened by armed men on the road.
Two took place in May 2019 in Est and Centre- Nord regions. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
91 In December 2018, armed men detained a teacher in Centre-Nord region on the road between Bollé and Pissila.
The teacher said: They were three men—turbaned with black scarves, faces covered.
I could only see their eyes.
...
They asked me if I was a teacher.
I was shaking and sweating. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
I was shaking and sweating.
I said, “No, I'm a trader.”...They told me to get on my knees and I said to myself: “Here it is, the day of my death.” But after a minute of silence... they said, “You're lucky you’re not a teacher, otherwise they’d have to come get your carcass.” Then they let me go.
92 90 Ibid.
91 Human Rights Watch interview with former Kompienga high school teacher, Est region, March 1, 2020; interview with education official, Bam province, Centre-Nord region, February 1, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
92 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Bollé village (Centre-Nord region), Kaya, January 28, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 46 Visits to Residences In several cases, armed men visited education professionals’ homes for threats or attacks.
The night of April 19, 2019, in the town of Deou, Oudalan province, Sahel region, armed men visited a high school teacher at his residence.
He recounted: “They said, ‘We know you very well, we know where you live, and we want you to stop teaching. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
We’re giving you 72 hours to leave town.’” He left town a few days later.
93 In late October 2019, in the town of Tankougounadié, Yagha province, Sahel region, armed men came and shot up the house of the basic education district inspector, who was sleeping elsewhere.
“We think his house was specifically targeted,” said the secretary- general of a union for education professionals. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
94 Threats in Front of Villagers In early April 2019, a group of presumed armed Islamists visited Goenega and Yatenga villages, in Barsalogho commune, Centre-Nord region.
In both villages, they ushered villagers to the marketplace to deliver a diatribe, voicing their disapproval of French education.
A teacher who witnessed the event said: Around 5 p.m. on Friday... some 17 men arrived on motorcycles. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
They wore turbans, with uniforms resembling those of the military or police… heavily armed, with rocket-launchers, Kalashnikovs, bullet magazines.
...
The 93 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced high school math teacher from Deou (Sahel region), Ouagadougou, December 12, 2019.
94 Human Rights Watch interview and correspondence with Secretary-General, Syndicat National des Encadreurs Pedagoqiue de Premier Degree (SNEP/PD), Ouagadougou, February 5 and 18, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Bullet casings cover the ground after armed men attacked the house of the basic education district inspector in Tankougounadié, Sahel region, in late October 2019.
© 2019 SNEP/PD 47 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 weapons that I saw in front of me that day, I’d never seen in my life except on TV.
They surrounded the market...
They said they came to promote Islam, and they don’t agree with teaching in French... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
They said teachers had 72 hours to leave or teach Islam; otherwise if they come back and find them not teaching Islam, they “know what will happen to them.” 95 Teachers from both villages fled shortly afterwards.
96 95 Human Rights Watch interview with primary school teacher from Goenega village, Kaya, January 28, 2020.
96 Ibid.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 48 IV. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
96 Ibid.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 48 IV.
Attacks and Abuses Against Students Dozens of cases documented by Human Rights Watch show that armed Islamist groups have threatened, intimidated, and harassed students in order to force them to stop attending school.
In several cases, both in and outside of school, attackers burned students’ books, documents, or notebooks in front of them.
Human Rights Watch did not find any cases of children intentionally targeted for violence during attacks on schools. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Indeed, many education professionals, parents, and security experts claimed that students are “not the target” of armed Islamist groups.
97 Nonetheless, in 2019, at least two students were injured or killed by stray bullets during attacks on or near schools.
Students have also been killed in numerous attacks outside of school, though the motivations for these killings are unknown. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Students Killed and Injured During Attacks January 2020 (Boucle du Mouhoun): Seven Students Killed in IED Attack The worst attack affecting students took place on January 4, 2020, in Sourou province.
As a convoy of three public transport buses traveled on the road between the towns of Toéni and Tougan, one of the buses hit an improvised explosive device (IED), killing 14 people on board, including 7 students.
At least 19 others were injured in the blast, including several students. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The convoy had been carrying 160 passengers, many of whom were students.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
98 Schools in Toéni had closed in December 2018 due to armed Islamist attacks on and threats against schools in the area, causing hundreds of students to enroll in schools in Tougan and elsewhere.
The day of the attack, the students in the convoy were returning to schools in Tougan and other cities after holidays with family in Toéni. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
99 97 Human Rights Watch interviews with education professionals, humanitarian workers, parents, and security experts, Burkina Faso, December 2019 – February 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
98 Human Rights Watch interviews with students and teacher from Sourou province (Boucle du Mouhoun region), Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020; Ministry of Communication and Relations with Parliament, Burkina Faso, “Government news release” (“Communiqué du Gouvernement”), January 4, 2020, available at https://www.sig.bf/wp-content/uploads/ 2020/01/Communique_gouvernement_car_t-ouch%C3%A9_par_IED_axe_Toeni_Tougan.pdf (accessed February 15, 2020). | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
99 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Sourou province, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020.
49 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 A teacher who knew five of the seven students killed said: Jacqueline Djerma, 17 years old, was doing her 3ème [grade] in Dédougou... She was good in class, very participatory.
Sirina Sawadogo, 19 years old—she was doing her terminale in Ouagadougou. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
She was a girl who loved literature... Welhore Sidibe was 22 years old; she was doing her first year of university in Koudougou.
Harouna Djerma, 23, was doing his première in Bobo[- Dioulasso].
Ousmane Koussoubé, 13, was continuing his 5ème in Tougan.
100 The teacher said a sixth student casualty was Issaka Teri, and that the seventh body presumed to be a student was not identified. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
101 A 22-year-old high school student injured in the attack said: “I was on top of the vehicle, up on the roof where the bags were.
...
I heard a huge noise, and I found myself in the air.
...
When I came to, I was under [a pile of] things...
There was black dust mixed with smoke...
I was injured on my foot and head.” 102 His friend Harouna was among the students killed: “He was a really nice guy, friendly, always made people laugh...
It has affected me to the point that I can’t sleep,” he said. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
103 100 Ibid.
101 Ibid.
102 Human Rights Watch interview with 22-year-old student from Sourou province, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020.
103 Ibid.
A 16-year-old student shows his injured knee in February 2020.
The boy was hurt in an IED attack that killed 14 people in a public transport bus in Boucle du Mouhoun region in January 2020.
© 2020 Lauren Seibert/Human Rights Watch “THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 50 A 16-year-old student, who had also ridden on top of the bus, said: “It threw me in the air. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The bus was split in half, and it fell over...
I was injured on my knee and hand.
I saw my classmates dead in the bus.” 104 Local officials and education professionals had mixed opinions as to whether the students had been the intended target of the attack.
One local official said that the road was frequently used by military vehicles, which could have been the target.
105 However, several local education professionals believed the students were targeted. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
“They must have known the students were all returning from vacation—they chose to attack just at the moment of students returning to school,” said a regional representative for a national education coalition. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
“From my point of view, that was intentional.” 106 The teacher who knew five of the deceased students pointed out that several students in the convoy had been intercepted and harassed by armed Islamists in December, on their way from Tougan to Toéni—which, he said, indicated the armed Islamists knew students would be returning: This time, the target was the students, not the army! | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
[The armed Islamists] had told children several times not to go to school, they had detained them, and they would do whatever necessary to discourage them.
...
The jihadists specifically booby-trapped the road because they knew these buses were coming to get students...
The gendarmerie does take that road often, but since [the attack] was just after the empty buses passed [to get the students], it’s clear to me they were targeting those buses that they knew would be full of students. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
107 104 Human Rights Watch interview with 16-year-old student from Sourou province, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020.
105 Human Rights Watch interview with local government official, Tougan, Boucle du Mouhoun region, February 13, 2020.
106 Human Rights Watch interview with Boucle du Mouhoun regional representative, National Coalition for Education for All (CN-EPT/BF), Dédougou, January 13, 2020.
107 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Sourou province, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
51 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 April 2019 (Boucle du Mouhoun): Student Injured in Attack Near School On April 2, 2019, during an attack by armed assailants on the gendarmerie of Gomboro, Sourou province, a stray bullet entered Primary School B, about 200 meters away.
The bullet injured student Judicäel Tao, age 10 or 11.
The principal said: “It was around 8 a.m. and we were in class.
The gunfire started, and in fear everyone started to flee.
...
The students were running helter-skelter. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
...
The students were running helter-skelter.
... [Tao] was running in the schoolyard when he took a bullet in the ankle... afterwards, I went to the hospital to see him.” 108 Tao recovered from the injury, but the school remained closed.
109 April 2018 (Sahel): Student Killed in Attack at School Primary school student Sana Sakinatou, a girl of about 14, was killed by a stray bullet during an attack at a school in Bouro village, Soum province, in April 2018. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
110 A witness said: “At around 4 p.m., when children were in class, around five armed men came to the school.
They fired a round of shots in the air—people started running in all different directions.
During the panic, the confusion, a student of CM2 was shot.” 111 Intimidation and Harassment of Students During a January 9, 2020 attack on a primary school in Touodjamoanli village, Logobou commune, Est region, armed men threatened students and burned their property. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
A witness said: I saw five men arrive on two motorcycles… They gathered students from all three classes together in one classroom.
Then they went inside and spoke with the students...
I learned later that they’d said the education they were receiving at the school was “not a quality education”... [and] they were there... “to burn everything.”...
They had all the students put their bags, books, notebooks, and papers in a pile in the courtyard. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
They also had the 108 Human Rights Watch interview with former principal of Gomboro Primary School B, Boucle du Mouhoun region, February 12, 2020.
109 Ibid.
; Human Right Watch interview with former principal of Gomboro Departmental High School, Boucle du Mouhoun region, January 26, 2020; interview with relative of Judicaël Tao, Boucle du Mouhoun region, February 16, 2020.
110 See Human Rights Watch, “By Day We Fear the Army, By Night the Jihadists,” pp.
21-22.
111 Ibid. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
21-22.
111 Ibid.
; Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Bourou, April 17, 2018.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 52 teachers put their documents on the pile.
Then they poured gasoline and set it alight.
112 In December 2019, armed Islamists intercepted several groups of students traveling from Tougan to Toéni for school break.
113 A student, 16, recounted: We were in a group of four, on bicycles.
The jihadists stopped us—there were five of them, on three motorcycles.
... | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
...
They were all armed with rifles...
They grabbed our backpacks and took out the notebooks, and they said, “Watch closely.” Then they burned our notebooks...
I was afraid.
I was thinking, “Will they let us go?” 114 This student’s original school in Toéni had closed due to armed Islamist threats against schools in the area, forcing him to move to Tougan to continue school.
Following the burning of his notebooks, an IED attack injured him and destroyed the bike he used to get to class. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The continued setbacks were taking their toll: “If they don’t find a solution... we risk having to abandon [school].” 115 Late at night on May 29, 2019, armed men attacked the high school in Kassoum, Boucle du Mouhoun region.
Finding students studying late for final exams, the attackers allegedly demanded where the teachers were, collected and burned the students’ notebooks and IDs, and burned the school’s canteen storeroom. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
116 112 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Ouagadougou, February 15, 2020.
113 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher and students from Sourou province, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020.
114 Human Rights Watch interview with 16-year-old student from Sourou province, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020.
115 Ibid. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
115 Ibid.
116 Human Rights Watch interview with education professional from Lanfièra, Boucle du Mouhoun region, February 17, 2020; correspondence with CN-EPT/BF representative, Boucle du Mouhoun region, February 12, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
See also “Sourou : The Kassoum county high school and the forest post attacked” (“Sourou : Le Lycée départemental kassoum et le poste forestier de attaqués”), Net Afrique, May 31, 2019, https://netafrique.net/sourou-lycee-departemental-kassoum-et-le-poste-forestier- de-attaques/ (accessed March 2, 2020). | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
53 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 V. Attacks on Schools Attacks on schools in Burkina Faso have ranged from threatening visits or “raids”—in which armed Islamist groups ordered schools’ closure, often firing in the air to intimidate teachers and students—to rampages of violence, pillage, and destruction. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Assailants have set classrooms, offices, and teachers’ residences on fire; shot at school windows, doors, walls, and roofs; used explosives to destroy school buildings; burned school records, academic materials, books, and students’ notebooks; stolen, damaged or destroyed teachers’ belongings; and pillaged supplies from canteen storerooms and warehouses. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Many attacks on schools have taken place at still-functioning schools, both during class hours with students and teachers present, and outside of class hours.
However, attackers also damaged and pillaged schools that were closed for break or that had already ceased functioning due to insecurity.
These attacks have spread geographically and increased each year since the first attacks in 2017, which were primarily concentrated in the northern Sahel region. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Human Rights Watch documented the burning of two schools, a violent attack at one school, and six other threatening visits to schools in Sahel region in 2017.
News media also reported the burning of at least five additional schools, and other attacks may have gone unreported.
From 2017 to 2020, attacks on schools greatly increased, spreading across at least eight regions. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Five regions suffered the majority of attacks—Sahel, Nord, Est, Centre-Nord, and Boucle du Mouhoun—while some additional attacks and threats reportedly took place in Centre-Est, Hauts-Bassins, and Centre-Sud.
Human Rights Watch documented 25 attacks on schools taking place in 2018, including 17 with school infrastructure or materials damaged; and 57 attacks on schools in 2019, of which 50 involved damage, destruction or pillage. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
From January to March 2020, Human Rights Watch documented 16 attacks on schools, of which at least 15 involved damage.
Dozens of additional attacks on schools were reported that Human Rights Watch was unable to verify.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 54 Burned desks at a public primary school in Minima village in Zimtenga commune, Centre-Nord region, June 13, 2019.
Presumed armed Islamists attacked the school on May 2, 2019. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
“They knocked on the doors of the teachers’ houses, but they didn’t find anyone,” said the principal, Noufou Yampa.
At the school, they set fires, “stole the food supplies, ripped out the solar panel cables, and burned the desks.” © 2019 Noufou Yampa Burned academic materials (left) and a broken door (right) in Minima village primary school.
“They broke the [door to the school’s] office and set fire to the notebooks, the students’ homework, records, documents— everything,” said the principal. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
“There are no longer any records for the Minima school.” © 2019 Noufou Yampa 55 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 The doors of Minima village primary school in Centre-Nord region were damaged in a May 2019 attack by armed Islamists.
June 13, 2019.
© 2019 Noufou Yampa The education ministry, in an October 2019 report, attributed the damage of at least 157 schools during an unspecified period to armed group attacks or fires. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
117 Attacks During Class Time Students were present during at least 31 of the attacks on schools documented by Human Rights Watch between January 2017 and March 2020.
Of these, in at least 6 attacks, students witnessed their teachers killed or beaten (see section III); and in at least 10 cases, students were directly threatened or killed (see section IV). | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
Attacks on schools with children present are particularly egregious, because of the risk of injury or death to students and the extreme fear, panic, and long-term psychological consequences caused.
Many students told Human Rights Watch how terrified they had felt in those moments and afterwards, while teachers and witnesses described scenes of students screaming and crying, running and falling, diving out of windows, and climbing over walls to escape armed intruders. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
118 117 MENAPLN, “Rapport sur les statistiques”; Alain Didier Compaore, “Security: MENAPL[N] launches a voluntary subscription to support the FDS” (“Sécurité : le MENAPL[N] lance une souscription volontaire pour soutenir les FDS”), RTB, February 6, 2020, https://www.rtb.bf/2020/02/securite-le-menapl-lance-une-souscription-volontaire-pour-soutenir-les-fds/ (accessed March 15, 2020). | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 56 January 2020 (Est): Five Schools Attacked Between January 9 and 11, 2020, alleged armed Islamists attacked at least five schools in four villages of Logobou commune, Tapoa province.
119 In Moridéni, Touodjamoanli, and Diabonli villages, armed men set fires in two schools, threatened teachers and students, stole motorcycles and phones, and pillaged canteens.
120 In Nagaré village, armed men threatened teachers and set fire to their documents and offices. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
One teacher, who described five men arriving on motorcycles, recounted: It was 10 a.m., and I was correcting the homework [in class]… I sensed a movement among the students, so I turned to ask what the problem was.
I looked at the window and saw a man, turbaned, only his eyes showing, with a Kalashnikov...
The students all started to run out at the same time... At the door, a man fired three shots in the air, ordering students not to flee, but they continued to run. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
121 The armed men captured two teachers, took their phones, bags, and motorcycle keys, and threatened them.
“They explained that they were jihadists.
They said that in several localities they had already said to stop teaching, but they learned that since last year, we’d been continuing classes,” the teacher said.
“They said if they return to find anyone teaching in the school, they will slaughter everyone.” As of February, the school remained closed. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
122 October 2019 (Boucle du Mouhoun): Two Schools Attacked On the morning of October 20, 2019, armed men entered two public primary schools in Donon and Niassari villages, in Bï commune, Sourou province.
“The students were there.
They told them to go home,” said an education professional from a neighboring village. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The education professional said that at the Niassari school: 118 Human Rights Watch interviews with students and teachers in Sahel, Centre-Nord, Centre-Est, Nord, Est, and Boucle du Mouhoun regions, Burkina Faso, December 2019 – March 2020.
119 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Logobou, Tapoa province, Est region, February 15, 2020; interview with principal of Nagaré High School, Est region, January 31, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
120 Human Rights Watch interview with witness from Est region, Ouagadougou, February 15, 2020.
Touodjamoanli attack documented in section IV of this report (“Attacks and Abuses Against Students”).
121 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Nagaré High School, Ouagadougou, February 11, 2020.
122 Ibid.
57 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 They called the teacher by name, made him kneel, and asked if there was food in the warehouse.
He said no. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
He said no.
One immediately cocked his Kalashnikov, but from afar another opposed his death, saying, “He’ll be a messenger.” They forced [open] the storeroom, collected the food, and burned the administration [building] and the storeroom... they told him to inform his hierarchy that there will be no classes in Sourou province.
123 April 2019 (Centre-Nord): Attack on High School On April 15, 2019, armed men arrived in Nebkieta Private High School in Pissila, Sanmatenga province, at the end of a school day. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
As students and teachers fled, the armed men threatened an administrator and set off an IED, damaging school equipment.
The administrator described what happened after he saw seven armed men approaching on motorcycles: Most students had just finished classes and were leaving...
Some ran into the jihadists coming on the road.
Others were in the courtyard, and some were still in class—they heard other students screaming and ran out... they started climbing the walls to escape—the teachers too. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
I was running towards my office, but they said if I kept running, they’d shoot me.
123 Human Rights Watch interview and correspondence with education professional from Lanfièra, Boucle du Mouhoun region, February 17, 2020.
Attackers burned academic materials and two teachers’ residences, pillaged the canteen warehouse, and damaged desks at a school in Soumakuy village in Sanaba commune, Boucle du Mouhoun region, the night of February 12, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
© 2020 SYNATEB “THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 58 One asked me if I was a teacher or a student...
I didn’t answer.
...
He pointed his gun at me and said, “Any child, girl or boy, if he is at least 12, should be learning the Quran, not French.”...
The second guy took down the national flag and trampled on it.
Then they entered the administrative building, took our phones and the secretary’s bag...
In front of the administrative building there is a computer room where students take classes. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
They entered the room and put a handmade explosive on one of the computer tables.
I heard an explosion, BOOM...
I was so afraid.
124 No one was injured in the attack.
The school’s founder said: “There were five computers damaged, two tables ruined, the ceiling fell, and the shock shattered the windows.” 125 The 124 Human Rights Watch interview with administrator, Nebkieta Private High School (Pissila), location withheld, February 13, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
125 Human Rights Watch interview with Joseph Ouedraogo, founder of Nebkieta Private High School (Pissila), Ouagadougou, February 13, 2020.
A gendarme holds a piece of the IED set off by armed Islamists during the attack on Nebkieta Private High School in April 2019.
© 2019 Joseph Ouedraogo 59 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 school, which had approximately 700 students, remained closed for the 2019-2020 school year. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
126 April 2018 (Sahel): Attack on Middle School On April 5, 2018 at about 11 a.m., four to six armed men attacked the Béléhédé village middle school in Tongomayel commune, Soum province.
While some men kept watch on the road, others entered the school courtyard, firing shots in the air.
As students and teachers fled, the men shot at the building; set an office, administrative materials, and students’ notebooks on fire; and damaged the principal’s motorcycle. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
127 A student, around age 14 at the time of the attack, said: “They encountered some students outside who were leaving and told them to return to the school...
When the students refused, they fired a shot... We all fled to save ourselves.” 128 As a result of the attack, 126 Ibid. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
127 Human Rights Watch interview with former 3ème student from Béléhédé village (Sahel region), Ouagadougou, February 14, 2020; interview with former 4ème student from Béléhédé village, Djibo, February 14, 2020; interview with Béléhédé villager, Djibo, January 26, 2020.
128 Human Rights Watch interview with former 4ème student from Béléhédé village, Djibo, February 14, 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
An IED set off by armed Islamists damaged computers, shattered windows, and caused the ceiling to fall down in the computer room at Nebkieta Private High School in Pissila, Centre-Nord region, during an attack on April 15, 2019.
© 2019 Joseph Ouedraogo “THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 60 students were unable to finish the school year.
The school remained closed in 2019 and 2020. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |
The school remained closed in 2019 and 2020.
129 Threatening Raids During Class Human Rights Watch documented 20 cases in which presumed armed Islamists entered schools during class hours to issue threats and order school closures.
The arrival of heavily armed men terrified many students, some of whom told Human Rights Watch they thought they were going to be killed.
Documented cases took place in Centre-Nord, Sahel, Nord, and Boucle du Mouhoun regions. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thematic2f/pw_2/1721909239768.pdf | https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/HRW_war_Against_education.pdf | Burkina Faso |