By Riza Kumar 

Culture of Violence: Terrorism Reaches Its Peak in Burkina Faso paints a harrowing picture of a nation consumed by escalating extremist attacks, militarized ethnic tensions, and a state strategy that empowers untrained civilian militias with deadly consequences.

Key points include:

• Burkina Faso ranks #1 in global terrorism deaths, with over 3,000 civilians killed in 2024 alone.

• State-sponsored militias—the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP)—now outnumber the national army, but their lack of training and ethnic bias has fueled further violence.

• Over 80% of Burkinabe territory is under the control of terrorist groups, with projections estimating nearly 4 million people could be internally displaced by year-end.

• Human rights abuses are rampant: civilian massacres, ethnic targeting—particularly of the Fulani—and extrajudicial killings are now common features of the government’s counterterrorism effort.

• Public trust in the state is collapsing, while extremist groups like al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) are increasingly seen as more reliable providers of security.

The report warns that the Burkinabe government's hardline, militarized approach—relying on loosely controlled militias and sidelining local peace negotiations—has entrenched a self-perpetuating “culture of violence.” This normalization of brutality not only undermines stability in Burkina Faso but risks setting a dangerous precedent for the broader Sahel region.

Riza Kumar, Senior Research Analyst, CEP and author of the report, said:

“Without law, accountability, or a credible strategy, Burkina Faso’s counterterrorism model is spiraling into a humanitarian catastrophe. Security solutions that disregard human rights and social cohesion are destined to fail—and are only empowering the extremists they aim to defeat.”

CEP calls for an urgent reevaluation of counterterrorism strategy in Burkina Faso, emphasizing demilitarization of rogue militia forces, restoration of local mediation mechanisms, and the increased recognition and integration of marginalized communities across all security sectors.  

New York; Berlin; London: Counter Extremism Project, 2025. 24p.

By The Counter Extremism Project, Global Strategies to Combat Extremism

In recent years, the U.S. sanctions regime has targeted the world’s most egregious human rights violators. It has done so based on the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (the Magnitsky Act) and the 2017 Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which empower the U.S. government to impose “tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.” Since then, the White House has used sanctions to target government organizations, officials, corporations, and private individuals engaged in the systematic violation of human rights around the globe. Such sanctions have been enacted against entities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and beyond. Unfortunately, the crimes committed against the Yemeni people by the Houthi rebels have gone largely overlooked. Fewer than 15 Houthi officials have been sanctioned in total, and the majority of those targeted are military officials who have been sanctioned for their role in destabilizing Yemen (E.O. 13611), with minimal attention paid to Houthi violations committed against the population under their rule. This report will focus on the Houthis’ systematic abuse of women and journalists. While these are tragically common phenomena in Houthi-controlled areas, they remain poorly documented. In addition to clearly documenting these abuses, the report will also map out the Houthi mechanics of repression: from the security forces responsible for unjustly arresting and harassing vulnerable individuals to those officials in the justice and prison systems responsible for subjecting the victims to torture and sham trials. The aim of this report is to raise awareness of Houthi human rights violations and provide informational support for efforts to penalize those who can and should be targeted with sanctions for their crimes.

New York: The Counter Extremism Project, Global Strategies to Combat Extremism, 2023. 16p.