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130 Armed Islamists made two incursions into schools in Namissiguima, Centre-Nord region during class hours, in March and April 2019.
131 A school employee described the March incident: It was around noon...
I was just leaving the [office], and there were students still in class.
I saw four people coming on two motorcycles... armed with Kalashnikovs...
They demanded, “Where are the teachers?”...
I said I didn’t know...
They entered the classroom, and asked the students the same question... | 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 caught one student, who said the teachers had left.
They shot in the air, and said to tell the teachers that the next time they find people here, they’ll kill them... That evening, I packed a bag and left.132 A 13-year-old student from Gorel, in Arbinda commune, Sahel region, said armed Islamists came to her primary school in March 2019: “They came when we were taking a test...
I was there, in class...
I saw seven, they were turbaned and armed...
I thought they were going to kill me, so I ran. | 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 thought they were going to kill me, so I ran.
... Then after we left they spoke with the teachers.
...We watched from nearby... they said ‘If we come [again] we’ll kill the teachers.’” 133 129 Ibid.
; interview with former 3ème student from Béléhédé village, Ouagadougou, February 14, 2020; interview with Béléhédé villager, Djibo, March 2020.
130 Human Rights Watch interviews with witnesses, students, education professionals, and local officials, Burkina Faso, December 2019 – March 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 |
131 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced middle school student from Namissiguima (Centre-Nord region), Kaya, February 4, 2020; interview with school employee from Namissiguima, Ouagadougou, December 12, 2019.
132 Human Rights Watch interview with school employee from Namissiguima, Ouagadougou, December 12, 2019.
133 Human Rights Watch interview with 13-year-old displaced student from Arbinda (Sahel region), Kaya, January 29, 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 |
61 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 A former principal of a village school in Bourzanga commune, Centre-Nord region, described an incursion into his school around 10:45 a.m. on February 7, 2019: “There were 14 of them, all with firearms ...
Many students started climbing out the windows, but some stayed... | 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 gave me their message: that ‘white’ schools don’t interest them, and they want Quranic education.” 134 In November 2018, armed Islamists showed up at a middle school in Poughkijibawo village in Kelbo commune, Sahel region.
“Everyone ran together, teachers and students,” a witness recounted.
One teacher, who was pregnant, fell when she tried 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 |
135 A school administrator noted, “Before leaving, [the armed Islamists] trapped [another administrator] and told him to transmit the message: that if they returned and found anyone, they will kill them.” 136 In Silgadji village in Tongomayel commune, Sahel region, armed Islamists disrupted schools at least three times in 2017 and 2018, according to five students.
137 A 14-year-old student described one incident in October 2017: “I was in class, writing the grammar lesson. | 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 heard the sound of their motorcycles... then we were running [and] screaming...
I was really scared....
I saw them, they had things like masks over their faces, so you could only see their eyes...
They had guns... We all ran, with the teacher... she was pregnant, and she fell. | 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 lost the baby after.” The student said her teacher told her later that the men “no longer wanted to see students and teachers at school.” 138 Other Schools Destroyed, Damaged, and Pillaged Many other schools were attacked at night or after they had closed for breaks or due to insecurity.
For example, in December 2018, attackers targeted the primary school in Djibo Sector 6 (Sahel) one evening around 7 p.m., according to a resident. | 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 next day, he went to the school and saw the damage: “We saw cartridges everywhere...
They had shot at the doors and windows...
In front of the school, they’d burned all the documents and papers 134 Human Rights Watch interview with former primary school principal, Bourzanga, Centre-Nord region, February 8, 2020.
135 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Sahel region, March 11, 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 |
136 Human Rights Watch interview with former Poughkijibawo middle school administrator, location withheld, February 26, 2020.
137 Human Rights Watch interviews with five displaced students from Silgadji, Ouagadougou, February 9, 2020.
138 Human Rights Watch interview with 14-year-old displaced student from Silgadji, Ouagadougou, February 9, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 62 they found in the classrooms.” The school remained closed, affecting some 200 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 |
139 In July 2019, presumed armed Islamists attacked the already-closed primary school in Goenega village, Barsalogho commune, Centre-Nord region.
A villager recounted what he saw: “The whole school was damaged, burned... Windows, doors, walls so ruined they couldn’t be repaired... | 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 had shot at the building, burned documents and desks, emptied the storeroom, set a fire inside the principal’s house, and damaged teachers’ residences.” 140 A former teacher said: “It was so destroyed that we no longer even speak of the school.” 141 In some cases, students and teachers fled just before attackers arrived.
This was the case during an April 29, 2019 attack around 4:45 p.m. at Sillaléba village in Nasséré commune, Centre-Nord region, according to a primary school 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 |
The next day, the teacher found that attackers had started fires in three classrooms, damaged five motorcycles, and stolen three motorcycles and a computer.
“We returned to try and put out the fire, because the desks were still burning—but I wasn’t able to save a single class document,” he said.
“All the archives, students’ notebooks, my documents—everything destroyed in the fire.
It was terrible.” 142 139 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Djibo, March 11, 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 |
140 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced Goenega villager, Barsalogho, March 30, 2020.
141 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced Goenega teacher, Kaya, January 28, 2020.
142 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher formerly in Sillaléba village (Bam province, Centre-Nord region), Ouagadougou, March 1, 2020.
A man holds bullet casings found at a public primary school in the town of Boron, in Dédougou commune, Boucle du Mouhoun 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 |
The night of January 20, 2020, attackers entered the school grounds, tried to force open the doors and windows, and shot at the principal’s residence.
© 2020 SYNATEB 63 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 Schools Damaged by Explosives Human Rights Watch documented four cases in which attackers—presumed by witnesses to be armed Islamists—set off explosives in schools, as well as a fifth case where an explosive device failed to detonate.
Two of these cases are documented elsewhere in this report. | 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 |
143 On January 31, 2019, attackers detonated the administrative building of the Djibo Sector 5 public primary school.
144 A local resident stated: “It happened around 6 or 7 p.m.
I was at my house... and we heard an explosion... [The next day] I went and saw the whole roof gone, all the tin sheets on the ground. | 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 building was torn apart... [The attackers] had stolen food supplies and dynamited the building, 50 meters behind my house.” The school, which he estimated had some 120-140 students, remained closed.
145 In March 2019, in the same locality, attackers detonated a private Franco-Arab school 146 that had 90-100 students, ages 8-10. | 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 |
147 A nearby resident recounted: 143 See section V, “Attacks on Schools,” and section VI, “Military Use of Schools.” 144 Media reports at the time had cited this attack as occurring in Djibo Sector 6 (Djao Djao) rather than in Sector 5. | 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 MENASTREAM, Twitter post, February 1, 2019, https://twitter.com/menastream/status/1091374157705687045 (accessed January 20, 2020); and “Terrorism — Djibo: The administrative building of the Djao Djao school destroyed following a very strong explosion” (“Terrorisme—Djibo : Le bâtiment administratif de l’école de Djao Djao détruit suite à une très forte explosion”), NetAfrique, February 1, 2019, https://netafrique.net/terrorisme-djibo-le-batiment-administratif-de-lecole-de- djao-djao-detruit-suite-a-une-tres-forte-explosion/ (accessed January 20, 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 |
145 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Djibo, January 25, 2020.
146 Franco-Arab schools teach in both French and Arabic.
147 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Djibo, January 25, 2020.
The roof of a primary school’s supply warehouse in Béléhédé village, Sahel region, was damaged by an explosive on November 20, 2018.
January 2019.
© 2019 Private “THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 64 A private Franco-Arab school destroyed by explosives in March 2019, in Djibo, 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 |
© 2019 Private The ruins of the administrative building of a public primary school in Djibo, Sahel region, detonated by an explosive by presumed armed Islamists on January 31, 2019.
© 2019 Minute.BF 65 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 Around 6:30 p.m., four motorcycles arrived next to my home, with eight men riding two-by-two.
They were turbaned, in military uniform, with rifles, and they had backpacks... At 7:30 p.m.
I heard a detonation... We heard motorcycles coming [back]... | 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 they passed, they were saying “Allahu Akbar”... [The next morning] I was on site – the building was totally destroyed.
The roof and ceiling were on top of the desks.
148 In Béléhédé village, Sahel region, a primary school was damaged on November 20, 2018 by an explosive.
A local resident said: “I was at home...they started shooting at 9 p.m., so we couldn’t sleep...
They spent three hours in the school... Around midnight they exploded the school’s warehouse. | 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 |
... My house was around 100 meters from the school, so we heard it clearly.
...
They also torched the principal’s office and all the materials in the school, and they took all the food.” 149 Threatening Notes Human Rights Watch documented three cases in which schools received threatening notes, two unsigned.
In March 2019, at a school in Tébéré village in Pissila commune, Centre- Nord region, teachers found a message in Arabic written on a paper in red pen, according to a local official. | 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 |
“It said something like ‘We’ll return to kill you,’” he said.
“The teachers quickly left the location.” 150 In February 2019, teachers at Kongoussi Provincial High School, Centre-Nord region, found a typed note in French affixed at the school: “I am the jihadist leader El-Djibril Sy.
I am giving you a short 72-hour deadline to teach Arabic in this establishment... or to stop classes completely[;] if not you already know the result.” 151 148 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Djibo, March 11, 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 |
149 Human Rights Watch interview with former resident of Béléhédé village (Sahel region), Djibo, February 14, 2020.
150 Human Rights Watch interview with Pissila government official (Centre-Nord region), Ouagadougou, February 10, 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 |
151 Human Rights Watch interview with member of parent’s association, Kongoussi Provincial High School, Centre-Nord region, January 15, 2020; interview with school administrator, Kongoussi Provincial High School, Centre-Nord region, February 7, 2020; copy of note on file with Human Rights Watch.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 66 In October 2018, teachers at Solhan Primary School A, Sahel region, found a note written half in Arabic, half in nearly-illegible 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 |
A teacher roughly translated the note: “Students pay attention because if we come, we do not know who is a student and who is a teacher.
We’re going to kill you all.” 152 152 Human Rights Watch correspondence with teacher from Solhan, Yagha province, Sahel region, January 21, 2020; copy of note on file with Human Rights Watch.
Left: A threatening note written half in Arabic, half in nearly-illegible French, found at Solhan Primary School A in Sahel region, October 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 |
© 2018 Private Right: The threatening, mostly rambling note found at Kongoussi Provincial High School, Centre-Nord region, in February 2019.
© 2019 Private 67 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 VI.
Military Use of Schools Human Rights Watch documented the use of at least 10 schools by the Burkinabè armed forces, the Security and Defense Forces (Forces de Défense et Sécurité, FDS), as temporary military bases in 2019.
These included nine schools in Centre-Nord region and one in 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 |
The military occupied seven schools for periods ranging from one day to several months, while three were occupied for periods from six months to a year, according to local residents, officials, and education professionals.
At least four schools were attacked by armed Islamist groups during or following the military occupations.
Human Rights Watch also documented six cases in which armed Islamist groups allegedly briefly used or occupied vacant schools, one in Sahel region and five in Centre-Nord. | 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 |
Use of a school for military purposes can prevent children from returning to school, and it can result in damage to important education infrastructure, whether due to the behavior of soldiers inside the school or because it makes the school a target for enemy attack.
Even once vacated, the school may still be dangerous for children if troops leave behind unused munitions. | 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 Safe Schools Declaration (see Annex IV) and the related Guidelines on Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict (“Guidelines”; see Annex V), which Burkina Faso endorsed in 2017, urge parties to armed conflict “not to use schools… for any purpose in support of the military effort,” while acknowledging that certain uses—such as when security forces are “presented with no viable alternative”— would not be contrary to the law of armed conflict. | 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 |
153 The UN Security Council has encouraged all countries to take concrete measures to deter the use of schools for military 153 The Safe Schools Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment that provides countries the opportunity to express political support for the protection of students, teachers, and schools during times of armed conflict; the importance of the continuation of education during armed conflict; and the implementation of the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict. | 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 |
It was opened for countries to endorse on May 28, 2015, in Oslo, Norway.
As of April 2020, 103 countries have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. | 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” 68 purposes, 154 and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council has called on all its member states to “ensure schools are not... used for military purposes.” 155 In eight documented cases, interviewees said the Burkinabè military occupied schools that had already closed due to insecurity, so there were no children studying in the 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 |
Human Rights Watch was unable to confirm whether one school, used as a military base during summer break, had previously closed due to insecurity.
For the tenth case, there were conflicting accounts as to whether the military occupied the school’s courtyard for a time while the school was still functioning.
Witnesses believed that soldiers stayed camped in the courtyard, not entering classrooms, in three of the schools used.
Soldiers reportedly used classrooms as barracks in at least five 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 |
In two cases, interviewees were unaware which areas were used.
In nearly all cases, local residents told Human Rights Watch that the localities in question desperately needed protection, and that many had welcomed the military’s presence.
156 During mid-2019, armed Islamists had increased attacks in Centre-Nord region, causing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
Many school occupations during this time took place in the context of the military’s response, Operation Doofu. | 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 |
157 In four cases, interviewees said the locality did not have the infrastructure to accommodate the military anywhere else, and that the school was the only option.
This would appear to align with the Guidelines, which provide that schools abandoned or 154 UN Security Council Resolution 2225, S/Res/2225 (2015), June 18, 2015, https://undocs.org/S/RES/2225(2015) (accessed May 12, 2020), para. | 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 |
7; and Resolution 2401, S/Res/2401 (2018), February 24, 2018, https://undocs.org/S/RES/2401(2018) (accessed May 12, 2020), para.
8. | 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 |
155 See Press Statement on the Peace and Security Council of the African Union’s 597th meeting on May 10, 2016, https://www.peaceau.org/en/article/press-statement-of-the-peace-and-security-council-psc-of-the-african-union-au-at-its- 597th-meeting-on-the-theme-children-in-armed-conflicts-in-africa-with-particular-focus-on-protecting-schools-from-attacks- during-armed-conflict (accessed May 14, 2020); and Press Statement on the Peace and Security Council of the African Union’s 615th meeting on August 9, 2016, https://www.peaceau.org/en/article/the-615th-meeting-of-the-aupsc-an-open- session-on-the-theme-education-of-refugees-and-displaced-children-in-africa (accessed May 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 |
156 Human Rights Watch interviews with local residents and officials from Centre-Nord and Sahel regions, February-March 2020.
157 See “Burkina Faso: Armed Islamist Atrocities Surge,” Human Rights Watch news release, January 6, 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/06/burkina-faso-armed-islamist-atrocities-surge. | 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 |
69 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 evacuated during armed conflict should not be used “except in extenuating circumstances,” when security forces are “presented with no viable alternative.” 158 In May 2020, the education ministry reported the military occupation of two schools in Centre-Nord region as of March 2020, though it did not provide further details. | 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 |
It noted that “these occupied schools were already closed for reasons of insecurity.”159 While the education ministry appears to collect some data on military occupation of schools, officials had indicated to Human Rights Watch in late 2019 and early 2020 that the government had not yet implemented a system for comprehensively tracking this information.
They also said that to their knowledge there were no existing national laws or military protocols regulating the military use of 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 |
160 One official stated: It’s true we signed it [the Safe Schools Declaration], but... in reality, to track this [military occupation of schools], we need an interdepartmental committee – with the ministries of security, education, territorial administration, humanitarian action, and everyone... We haven’t really taken actions yet in this sense.
… But we’re considering it. | 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 |
… But we’re considering it.
161 The Burkinabè government should take concrete measures to the deter the military use of schools and encourage appropriate practice throughout the chain of command, including by incorporating the Guidelines on Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict into military doctrine, training, and operational orders. | 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 |
162 Examples of good practice by African Union countries in implementing protections for schools from military use are found in Annex VI.
158 Guidelines on Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, guideline 2 (see Annex V).
159 MENAPLN letter, “Responses to the concerns of Human Rights Watch,” May 2020 (see Annex II).
160 Human Rights Watch interview with MENAPLN officials, Ouagadougou, December 10, 2019 and 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 |
161 Human Rights Watch interview with MENAPLN official, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020.
162 Guidelines on Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, guideline 6 (see Annex V).
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 70 Burkinabè Security Forces’ Use of Schools Centre-Nord Region Barsalogho Human Rights Watch documented the military occupation of four schools in villages of Barsalogho commune, Sanmatenga province: Bangrin, Guenbila, 163 Yantega, and Goenega. | 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 |
In Bangrin village, according to a displaced education professional and a Barsalogho local government official, security forces arrived at the public primary school in early-to-mid 2019, remaining for close to a year.
164 “When they set up there, it was urgent to provide security for the population,” the official 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 |
“It’s the only administrative building in the village.” 165 Accounts varied on whether the military camped out in the courtyard for a short period while students were still attending school, before it closed due to insecurity around April 2019, or whether they arrived after the school had closed.
166 In Guenbila village, the military occupied the “continuum” (primary and post-primary) school for around six weeks in mid-2019, according to a villager. | 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 villager said that after his community fled in June following attacks on nearby villages, “The school was [used as] a military camp during the rainy season, for around 40 days, from August to September— they informed us of their presence.” 167 A Barsalogho official, who estimated the school was occupied sometime between July and October, said: “They used classrooms to shelter themselves, made a fence... there wasn’t any other infrastructure to accommodate them...
There was no one in Guenbila. | 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 was no one in Guenbila.
When [the military] came... some people had the courage to return...
When they left, before the start of the school year, the population didn’t stay.
The school start didn’t take place.
168 163 Note: alternate spellings include “Guendbila” and “Guindbila.” 164 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced education professional, location withheld, February 25, 2020; interview with Barsalogho official, Centre-Nord region, February 5, 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 |
165 Human Rights Watch interview with local official, Barsalogho, Centre-Nord region, February 5, 2020.
166 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced education professional, location withheld, February 25, 2020; interview with Barsalogho official, Centre-Nord region, February 5, 2020.
167 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced Guenbila villager, Barsalogho, April 2, 2020.
168 Human Rights Watch interview with local official, Barsalogho, February 5, 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 |
71 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 In Yantega village, according to the same official, the military occupied a public primary school for several months from July or August until November 2019.
Soldiers reportedly slept in the classrooms and in tents in the courtyard, constructing fencing around the school. | 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 |
169 Human Rights Watch could not confirm whether the school had closed due to insecurity before the July-September school break, but much of the village population reportedly fled due to armed Islamist attacks in the area during those months.
170 In Goenega village, according to the official and a villager, soldiers occupied the primary school for one night in August 2019, before continuing to Yantega. | 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 |
171 Dablo Security forces occupied the Dablo Departmental High School for at least a month around August 2019, according to a local resident and an education professional formerly based in the area.
172 Each day, “they did patrols in the neighboring villages of Dablo and then returned to their base, the high school,” said the resident, who did not know which parts of the schools were occupied.
All schools in Dablo remained closed as of February 2020, 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 |
173 Previously, a May 2019 armed Islamist attack on a Dablo church had killed six people and provoked the flight of much of the population.
174 Pensa The military set up bases in at least two schools in Pensa commune, according to local residents and teachers, who said the schools had closed due to insecurity and local attacks prior to the military’s arrival.
175 Arriving in August 2019, the military constructed fencing and occupied the classrooms, courtyard, and teachers’ housing of Pensa 169 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 |
170 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher, Kaya, April 14, 2020; interview with displaced Guenbila villager, Barsalogho, April 15, 2020.
171 Human Rights Watch interview with local official, Barsalogho, March 24, 2020; interview with displaced Goenega villager, Barsalogho, March 30, 2020.
172 Human Rights Watch interview with education professional from Dablo area (Centre-Nord region), Kaya, January 29, 2020; interview with local resident, Dablo, February 16, 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 |
173 Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Dablo, February 16, 2020.
174 See Human Rights Watch, “Armed Islamist Atrocities Surge.” 175 Human Rights Watch interview with local resident, Pensa, Centre-Nord region, March 17, 2020; interview with displaced Zinibeogo villager, Centre-Nord, February 24, 2020; interview with displaced teacher from Pensa, Kaya, March 15, 2020; interview with displaced teacher, Ouagadougou, December 12, 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 |
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 72 Departmental High School for at least six months, a local resident said.
He added: “Here in Pensa there are no buildings where these people can stay, other than the high school.” 176 In December 2019, security forces allegedly spent around two weeks in a public middle school in Zinibeogo village.
“They were in the courtyard only, not in the classrooms,” a villager said.
“I saw around 50 soldiers.
They slept outside, under the trees, not in tents. | 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 slept outside, under the trees, not in tents.
They did patrols, came and went all day.” He noted that soldiers also stayed in the local health center.
177 Namissiguima In August 2019, the military set up a base in the Namissiguima Departmental High School, Sanmatenga province, and stayed at least six months, according to two former residents and a local government official.
178 The official reported that over 600 soldiers occupied the classrooms and 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 |
“We don’t have infrastructure to shelter the military,” he said.
“The high school is a little outside of town, around 1.5 kilometers.
With their equipment, they can’t be in the center of town.
We preferred to lodge them there.” 179 Bourzanga In Namssiguia village of Bourzanga commune, Bam province, the military reportedly occupied the public Namssiguia Primary School A for two to three weeks in July or August 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 |
A local education professional said: “I saw them—each day they were in the school, they would go to the bush and the village to do their patrols...There were maybe around 100 [soldiers] in the school.
They put their luggage in the classrooms, and in the schoolyard.
They occupied the whole schoolyard... they prohibited the population from going there.” 180 176 Human Rights Watch interview with local resident, Pensa, March 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 |
177 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced Zinibeogo villager (Centre-Nord region), Kaya, February 24, 2020.
178 Human Rights Watch interview with two former Namissiguima residents, Ouagadougou and Kaya, December 12, 2019 and February 25, 2020; interview with local government official, Namissiguima, Centre-Nord region, February 26, 2020.
179 Human Rights Watch interview with local government official, Namissiguima, February 26, 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 |
180 Human Rights Watch interview with Namssiguia education professional, Kongoussi, Centre-Nord region, February 18, 2020.
73 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 Sahel Region Tongomayel For about a week in June 2019 during Operation Doofu, the military occupied the courtyard of the Béléhédé village public primary school in Tongomayel commune, Soum province, according to two witnesses. | 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 |
181 One villager estimated that there were 100 or more soldiers in the school, and said “they did not enter the school building.” He noted: “They would go out and patrol, and when they returned, they were inside the school [courtyard].” 182 Schools Attacked Due to Military Use In Centre-Nord region, armed Islamist groups attacked three schools that were being occupied by the military, and at least one following the military’s departure, in what may have constituted retaliation. | 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 attacks resulted in damage to several schools, which remained closed or occupied after the attack.
A local education professional described the attack on Namssiguia Primary School A: It was the day of [the military’s] departure, that same night, when [armed Islamists] came to attack the school [after the military left]...
I was in Namssiguia that day in August 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 |
I was in Namssiguia that day in August 2019.
I was at home, in bed, when around 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. they came to school and opened fire... we heard shots coming from the direction of the school, 700 meters from our house...
The next day the gendarmerie went to make their assessment, and told the population that [the armed Islamists] had placed an explosive inside the school, but thank God it hadn’t exploded.
The next day when I had the courage to enter the schoolyard... | 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 saw that they had shot at the building.
We saw the empty cartridges on the ground and bullets everywhere.... We saw the principal’s house and the kitchen 181 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced Béléhédé villagers, Sahel region, March 29, 2020 and January 26, 2020.
182 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced Béléhédé villager, Sahel region, January 26, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 74 pierced by bullets... | 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 |
In at least two classrooms, the roofs were hit... the school is still closed even today.
183 In January 2020, armed Islamists attacked the military detachment in the Pensa high school, according to a nearby resident.
“The terrorists came, but the FDS rebuffed the attack...
I was [at home], in bed, when we heard shots around 4 to 6 a.m.,” he said.
One soldier was fatally wounded.
The witness was unsure whether the school building was damaged. | 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 |
184 On November 21, 2019, presumed armed Islamists launched an attack against the military detachment in the Namissiguima high school, according to a local official.
One soldier was killed in the attack, and the school building was damaged.
“They shot at several buildings—the teachers’ office, classrooms,” said the official. | 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 building wasn’t totally damaged, though there were fissures.” 185 Around November 2019, the military housed in the Yantega primary school came under attack, a local official said.
He said this resulted in some mild damage to the school, including to several desks—which had been brought into military tents—that were burned in the attack.
The military subsequently closed the base and withdrew from Yantega. | 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 |
186 Armed Islamist Groups’ Use of Schools Armed Islamist groups allegedly used at least six schools for short periods of time, including one in Sahel region during 2018 and five in Centre-Nord region during 2019.
On December 20, 2018, in Manssifigui village in Tin-Akoff commune, Oudalan province, Sahel region, presumed armed Islamists captured 65-year-old municipal councilor Ismael Ag Ahmid and took him to a local school, where they executed him, according to a witness. | 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 |
187 183 Human Rights Watch interview with Namssiguia education professional, Kongoussi, February 18, 2020.
184 Human Rights Watch interview with local resident, Pensa, March 17, 2020.
185 Human Rights Watch interview with local government official, Namissiguima, February 26, 2020.
186 Human Rights Watch interviews with local government official, Barsalogho, February 5 and March 24, 2020.
187 Human Rights Watch interview with Manssifigui villager, Ouagadougou, January 27, 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 |
(Human Rights Watch, “We Found Their Bodies Later That Day”: Atrocities by Armed Islamists and Security Forces in Burkina Faso’s Sahel Region, March 75 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 In Barsalogho commune, Centre-Nord region, armed Islamists allegedly used four schools during 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 |
After armed Islamists threatened the community in Goenega village in April 2019, a teacher said villagers informed him that “Saturday [the armed Islamists] stayed overnight in the school, and Sunday they were still there.” 188 A local government official reported armed Islamist use of three other schools during mid-to-late 2019: they stayed overnight in the Sago primary school and the Guenbila “continuum” school, and used the Budissin primary school space to prepare food, 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 |
189 In Zimtenga commune, Centre-Nord region, a teacher from the area said that following a May 2, 2019 attack on a primary school in Minima village: “We learned later [from a parent] that the terrorists had camped in the primary school in [nearby] Nordé village.
They went there the night of May 2, 2019 and slept.” 190 22, 2019, https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/03/22/we-found-their-bodies-later-day/atrocities-armed-islamists-and- security-forces, pp.
14-15.) | 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 |
14-15.)
188 Human Rights Watch interview with displaced Goenega teacher, Kaya, January 2020.
189 Human Rights Watch interview with local government official, Barsalogho, February 5, 2020.
190 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher, Centre-Nord region, February 16, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 76 VII. | 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” 76 VII.
Negative Consequences for Students and Teachers The harmful consequences of attacks on students, teachers, and schools have stretched beyond school closures into numerous aspects of students’ and teachers’ lives, according to education professionals, parents, humanitarian workers, and community leaders interviewed by Human Rights Watch.
Many students who experienced attacks have suffered from trauma, affecting their studies and quality of life, interviewees 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 |
They noted that attacks on schools, fear of further attacks, and disruption to classes have had a very harmful effect on the quality of education many students receive, as well as their school performance.
Education professionals who survived attacks described material losses, financial difficulties, and ongoing psychosocial and physical problems. | 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 |
191 Children traveling long distances or living away from home to continue school have been exposed to risks and struggled to pay for school fees, housing, or food.
Cases of child labor increased as a result of school closures.
Finally, girls may face increased risks of child marriage, sexual violence and exploitation, unplanned pregnancies, and domestic violence as a result of being out of school. | 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 |
192 Psychosocial, Physical, and Financial Consequences for Teachers Numerous education professionals told Human Rights Watch that they suffered significant financial or property losses in attacks, such as homes burned down, or possessions destroyed or stolen.
Others described ongoing physical pain or medical issues.
193 “[The attack] has caused me pain and physical problems to this day,” a 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 |
194 191 Human Rights Watch interviews with education professionals, parents, humanitarian workers, and community leaders, Burkina Faso, December 2019 – March 2020.
192 Ibid.
193 Human Rights Watch interviews with teachers and principals from six regions of Burkina Faso, January – March 2020.
194 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher in Burkina Faso, 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 |
77 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 Dozens described experiencing anxiety, lingering fear and panic, depression, or other psychological and emotional issues associated with trauma following their attacks.
195 “I have migraines when I talk about this,” one teacher said when recollecting an attack.
196 “After that I couldn’t even sleep one hour.
I was really traumatized,” said another. | 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 really traumatized,” said another.
197 Human Rights Watch documented three cases in which pregnant female teachers suffered complications with their pregnancies, including two miscarriages, following attacks on schools.
Two reportedly fell while running during the attacks, while a third suffered from stress. | 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 |
198 In most of the cases documented by Human Rights Watch, education professionals who survived attacks received limited or no psychosocial support from the government, as discussed in section VIII of this report.
Teachers remaining in insecure areas have struggled to teach in a climate of constant fear and uncertainty.
“We’re obliged to have an eye in class and an eye outside,” said Souleymane Badiel, head of a federation of education workers’ unions. | 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 |
199 “In class you can’t be calm, you can’t concentrate when motorcycles pass,” said a teacher who was attacked.
200 While public school teachers reportedly continued to receive their salaries regardless of school closures, and were often redeployed, many private school teachers found themselves unemployed following attacks and closures.
201 195 Ibid.
196 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher in Burkina Faso, location withheld, February 23, 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 |
197 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Tapoa province (Est region), Ouagadougou, February 11, 2020.
198 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher, Sahel region, March 11, 2020; interview with displaced student from Silgadji (Sahel region), Ouagadougou, February 9, 2020; interview with Ali Tapsoba, Silgadji IDP community leader, Ouagadougou, February 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 |
199 Human Rights Watch interview with Souleymane Badiel, secretary general, Fédération des syndicats nationaux des travailleurs de l’éducation et de la recherche (F-SYNTER), Ouagadougou, December 10, 2019.
200 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher, Est region, February 11, 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 |
201 Human Rights Watch interview with Joseph Ouedraogo, founder, Nebkieta Private High School (Pissila, Centre Nord region), Ouagadougou, February 13, 2020; interview with private school principal, Bourzanga, Centre-Nord region, February 18, 2020.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 78 Psychosocial Consequences for Students Between 2017 and 2020, hundreds to thousands of students in Burkina Faso experienced attacks related to education. | 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 were threatened and forced to watch their schools or notebooks burned, their achievements going up in smoke.
Others watched their teachers beaten or killed.
Parents, teachers and experts said these experiences have had severe and often long-term psychosocial consequences for students, particularly young children.
202 “Many of my students were traumatized. | 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 |
202 “Many of my students were traumatized.
What they experienced before their own eyes, to see people come into school with weapons, threatening—this has caused, and will cause, many to abandon [school],” said Frank Belemouisgo, former principal of a primary school that closed following threats by armed Islamists.
“There hasn’t been any psychosocial care.
... | 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 hasn’t been any psychosocial care.
...
Many of them don’t even want to see a school anymore.” 203 The leader of a displaced community from Sahel region said, “Children started thinking if they went to school, they’d be attacked.
They’re afraid to go to school.” 204 202 Human Rights Watch interviews with education professionals, parents, humanitarian workers, and community leaders, Burkina Faso, December 2019 – March 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 |
203 Human Rights Watch interview with Frank Belemouisgo, former principal of Tébra primary school, Bourzanga, Centre-Nord region, February 8, 2020.
204 Human Rights Watch interview with Ali Tapsoba, Silgadji IDP community leader, Ouagadougou, February 9, 2020.
Displaced children sit on the ground in the outskirts of Ouagadougou.
Among their community of over 600 people displaced from Silgadji village in Sahel region, 145 children remained out of school as of 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 |
© 2020 Lauren Seibert/Human Rights Watch.
79 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2020 A 26-year-old former student who fled an attack on his secondary school said, “The attack really disturbed me, so I haven’t been back [to school].
I’m not even planning to restart.” 205 A student who survived an IED attack on a bus said: “I do nothing but think about [the attack]... I’ve continued school, but sometimes I’m following a lesson and I get lost...
Sometimes I look at the teacher and I can’t even process what 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 |
The things in my head disturb me.” 206 A teacher described another student who survived the same attack: “He’s there, but he isn’t present...
If there’s even a small noise, he gets up abruptly.” 207 Fear-Induced Withdrawals from School Due to widespread fear of attacks on schools, many parents have chosen to withdraw their children.
208 “Some parents no longer want to send their children to school, because of what they went through. | 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 don’t want to expose them,” said a teacher whose school was attacked.
209 A teacher who was attacked by armed Islamists in front of his students said: “Children’s schooling was already difficult.
To have students, you had to go around, negotiate with parents... We can’t reopen this year... Because the children saw what happened, I doubt the parents would allow their children to return.” 210 Schools that attempted to remain open often lost large numbers 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 |
For instance, following attacks in 2019 on several schools around Matiacoli, Est region, attendance at Matiacoli High School dropped from between 800 and 900 students to 300, according to a teacher.
211 205 Human Rights Watch interview with former student, Ouagadougou, February 14, 2020.
206 Human Rights Watch interview with student from Boucle du Mouhoun region, Ouagadougou, February 12, 2020.
207 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Boucle du Mouhoun region, 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 |
208 Human Rights Watch interview with education professionals in six regions of Burkina Faso, December 2019 – March 2020.
209 Human Rights Watch interview with Frank Belemouisgo, former principal of Tébra primary school, Bourzanga, February 8, 2020.
210 Human Rights Watch interview with teacher from Est region, Ouagadougou, February 11, 2020.
211 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 |
211 Ibid.
“THEIR WAR AGAINST EDUCATION” 80 Decreased Quality of Education and Students Falling Behind The flight of hundreds of teachers, as well as the fear permeating schools in conflict- affected areas, has detrimentally impacted the quality of education children receive.
One teacher said: “I continue to teach, but it’s hard to concentrate... you have to look constantly out the window to see if there’s a danger... | 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 are behind because of two months’ closure... and last year, we weren’t able to teach certain subjects, because some teachers had left.” He added that due to fear, many teachers came to class sporadically: “Some will teach for a week, then take shelter somewhere, then continue.” 212 Another teacher, prior to his school’s closure, had ceased in-person lessons: “I started to put the text for the students on the blackboard in the morning, before returning home. | 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 |