Armed groups and security forces committed abuses and human rights violations. New legislation adopted in the context of security concerns restricted freedom of expression. The trial regarding the 2015 attempted coup ended. Progress was made on protecting women’s sexual and reproductive rights.

Background

The insecurity in northern Burkina Faso spread eastward and led to a spike in human rights violations and abuses. A state of emergency was in force in six of Burkina Faso’s 13 regions. The number of people killed in the first half of the year exceeded four times the total for 2018.

Abuses by armed groups

Armed groups such as Ansarul Islam, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara allegedly conducted most of the attacks against the population, including state representatives and traditional chiefs. The Koglwgo and other similar self-defense groups committed human rights abuses.

Fifty individuals were killed and 66 more went missing in a raid led by an armed group on the village of Yirgou in Sanmatenga province on 1-2 January, according to the government. El Hadj Boureima Nadbanka, a Koglweogo leader in Namentenga province, was arrested on 23 December as part of the investigation into these killings. Also, in Sanmatenga, at least 29 people were killed on 8 September when gunmen attacked a food convoy on the Barsalogho-Guendbila road.

Deadly attacks occurred in Soum (Sahel region), a province bordering Mali. On 9 June, at least 19 people were killed during raids on a market and an artisanal gold mine in Arbinda. On 26-27 October, gunmen killed at least 15 people in an attack on the village of Pobé-Mengao. Thirty-five individuals, including 31 women, and seven members of security and defense forces were killed on 24 December during an attack in Arbinda.

Mining sites were targeted. On 6 November, 37 workers of the Boungou gold mine were killed when their bus convoy was ambushed by an armed group. On 16 January, a Canadian mining executive was abducted in Tiabongou and later killed.

Religious representatives and sites were also attacked. On 31 March, an armed group attacked the town of Arbinda and killed a local religious leader and six members of his family. This attack spurred intercommunal clashes in Arbinda and neighboring villages, causing the deaths of at least 60 people. Also, in Soum province, six congregants were killed on 29 April in an attack on the Protestant church in Silgadji. On 12 May, six congregants including the priest were killed in the Catholic church in Dablo (Sanmatenga province). A day after, four people were killed during a Catholic procession in Zimtenga (Bam province). On 11 October, gunmen killed 16 civilians in an attack on the Grand Mosque of Salmossi (Oudalan province). Fourteen congregants were killed on 1 December when an armed group attacked a Protestant church in Hantoukoura (Komondjari province).

Extrajudicial executions

On 5 February, the government announced the ‘’neutralization’’ of 146 “terrorists” in the northern provinces of Yatenga and Loroum. According to local civil society organization the MBDHP, some of these killings may qualify as extrajudicial executions.

Internally displaced people

By November, over half a million Burkinabè were internally displaced, according to government and UN data. Oudalan, Bam, Soum and Sanmatenga provinces, where 53% of the country’s total violent events occurred in 2019, hosted 76% of internally displaced people according to the UNHCR.

Justice system

General Gilbert Diendéré and General Djibril Bassolé were sentenced respectively to 20 years and 10 years in prison, for their roles in the attempted coup against the transitional government in September 2015. Diendéré and 23 others are awaiting trial for their role in the killing of former President Thomas Sankara in 1987. He is charged for “assault, assassination and possession of a dead body”.

Former President Blaise Compaoré remained in exile. He is charged with “willful assault, complicity in assault, assassination and complicity in assassination” after 33 people were killed and 88 were injured during mass protests on 29 October 2014. Thirty-two former ministers are also charged with complicity in homicide and willful assault. The trial of Compaoré and the ministers has been suspended by the High Court of Justice since June 2017, to revise the statutes of the High Court, after the Constitutional Court judged its Articles 21 and 33 unconstitutional. The statutes of the High Court have been revised but the trial has not resumed.

On 4 June, a French Court ordered the extradition of François Compaoré, the former president's brother, to Burkina Faso, which had issued an international arrest warrant in 2017 as part of its investigation into the 1998 murder of journalist Norbert Zongo.

According to UN Committee against Torture, 202 people currently detained were charged with terrorism but have not been tried yet.

Detention

Overcrowding remains a major issue in detention centers, with a rate of occupation at 180% nationwide (and 372% in Bobo-Dioulasso), along with the high rate of pre-trial detention (38%). Eleven people died on 15 July while in custody at the national police anti-drug unit in Ouagadougou. As a result, nine police officers were indicted for manslaughter and failure to assist a person in danger. Courts continued using the “order to hold available” which allows them to detain people without charge, in violation of international fair trial standards.

Freedom of expression

Burkina Faso amended its Criminal Code in June by adopting a new law no.044-2019/AN.

The law contains overly broad offences which could be used to clampdown on human rights defenders, journalists, and bloggers, and restrict access to information. Article 312-11 criminalizes any acts that may “demoralize” security forces, while other articles restrict access to or dissemination of information relating to military operations or weapons, in order to protect public order or the integrity of the military operations.

On 8 February, Adama “Damiss” Ouedraogo, editor of the newspaper “Le Dossier” was summoned by the High Authority for Communications after the journal shared on social media a voice audio disputing the government’s narrative about the “neutralization of 146 terrorists” in the communes of Kain, Bomboro and Banh and qualifying the deaths as “extrajudicial killings”.

On 12 November, web activist Naïm Touré was arbitrarily arrested by the police, due to “publications on social media”, officially. He was released without having been charged a few days later.

On 26 December, activist Kémi Seba received a two-month suspended sentence and was fined XOF200,000 (EUR300) for “public insults” and “contempt towards the president and foreign heads of state” after a public conference in Ouagadougou.

Women's rights

In June, the government agreed to provide free family planning services, including contraceptives and medical consultations. This decision aimed to remove barriers that women and girls face in accessing sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services.

Right to education

The right to education was undermined by the security situation in the country. Armed groups attacked schools and teachers, denying thousands of students access to education. The attacks led to the closure of 2,087 schools affecting 303,090 students and 9,264 teachers, as of 19 December, according to the Ministry of Education, Literacy and the Promotion of National Languages.