DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso's government unnecessarily exposed civilians to danger during a militant attack earlier this year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday.
In August, at least 100 villagers were killed by fighters from a militant group linked to al-Qaida in central Burkina Faso, in one of the deadliest attacks this year in the conflict-battered West African nation.
Villagers in the Barsalogho commune, which is 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital Ouagadougou, were forcibly helping security forces dig up trenches to protect security outposts and villages when fighters with the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin group invaded the area and opened fire on them, according to the report.
The JNIM group, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said that all of the villagers targeted were members of militias affiliated with Burkina Faso in its response to the report.
Human Rights Watch said it confirmed through video analysis and witness accounts that at least 133 people were killed, including dozens of children, and at least 200 more were injured.
“The massacre in Barsalogho is the latest example of atrocities by Islamist armed groups against civilians whom the government has put at unnecessary risk,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.
About half of Burkina Faso is outside of government control as the country has been ravaged by increasing militant attacks, encircling the capital. The militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.
The violence contributed to two coups in 2022. Still, the military junta that promised to end the attacks has struggled to do so, even after seeking new security partnerships with Russia and other junta-led, conflict-hit countries in Africa’s Sahel region.
The government's reliance on armed civilian auxiliaries, known as Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland, or VDP, to fight militants is putting civilians in great danger, Allegrozzi told The Associated Press, as many become targets of jihadis who accuse them of being supporters or even members of the VDP.
Witnesses quoted in the report said Burkina Faso's military forced male residents to dig a new trench section near the village without providing payment but that many refused fearing they would be exposed to attacks. But soldiers coerced them to do the work by threatening and beating them.
The country's justice minister, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, in his response to Human Rights Watch, said that forced labor was forbidden by law in Burkina Faso and that “testimonies according to which the military forced the populations to dig the trench are not proven.”
FILE - A mural reading "Stay vigilant and mobilised" is seen in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Wednesday March 1, 2023. (AP Photo, File)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
