Background
Armed conflict continued to affect many parts of the country and significantly impacted the economy, including cotton production, leading to internal displacement. In April, military authorities announced they had foiled another coup attempt. In July, the government introduced a new administrative map for the country, which involved renaming and redistributing provinces. In August, the UN resident coordinator was expelled. In September, the state joined Mali and Niger to announce their joint decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC. In October, the Independent National Electoral Commission was dissolved.
Abuses by armed groups
The ruling authorities were in a non-international armed conflict with the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and the Islamic State-Sahel Province (IS-Sahel) since 2016. In January, GSIM attacked the town of Sebba in Yagha province, unlawfully targeting civilians. According to local media, seven civilians, including four children, died in the attacks.
In May, members of GSIM attacked Djibo, the capital of the newly formed Soum region in the north and took control of the military base located there. According to humanitarian and local sources, they killed approximately 100 soldiers. Members of the armed group then entered several neighbourhoods and unlawfully killed at least 26 civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.
Violations of international humanitarian law
During the armed conflict, the military and its auxiliary forces, including the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), committed violations of international humanitarian law. According to local sources, media reports and human rights organizations, between 10 and 11 March, the military and the VDPs unlawfully killed at least 58 unarmed civilians in and around Solenzo, a town in the Bankui region (formerly Boucle du Mouhoun). In videos widely shared on social media, armed individuals (believed to be VDP members) could be heard insulting the victims, accusing them of being terrorists, using ethnic slurs against them, and seen firing at unarmed people, including children and older people.
Freedom of expression
The government continued its crackdown on freedom of expression, while also warning about the spread of hate speech on social media.
On 1 September, lawyer and human rights defender Ini Benjamine Esther Doli was arrested at her home in the capital, Ouagadougou, after returning from a trip abroad. In December, she was tried by the Ouagadougou High Court for contempt towards the head of state and demoralizing the national army in social media posts critical of the regime. She was sentenced to one year in detention and a fine of XOF 1 million (EUR 1,525).
Journalists
On 24 March, Guezouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba, two executive members of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso (AJB), were arrested by intelligence service agents and taken to an undisclosed location. The next day, another journalist, Luc Pagbelguem, was taken to an undisclosed location by “two agents of the National Security Council”, according to a statement issued by his employer, the BF1 TV channel. These unlawful detentions occurred following the AJB’s congress on 21 March. During the congress, Guezouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba – who were re-elected as president and secretary general respectively – condemned the military’s “total stranglehold” on the country’s public media outlets. Luc Pagbelguem filmed this statement, which was subsequently broadcast by BF1 TV. Several days later, images of the three men in military fatigues were shared on social media. They were released in July.
In August, the Higher Communications Council suspended Radio Omega’s broadcasting licence for three months, following a post on their Facebook page on 30 July that criticized the government as a “junta”.
Enforced disappearances
Several activists were forcibly disappeared during the year. On 15 March, Idrissa Barry, national secretary of the political movement Servir et Non se Servir (SENS) (To Serve and Not Serve Yourself), was arrested by individuals claiming to be police. This occurred during a meeting with officials at the town hall in the Saaba district of Ouagadougou. He was taken away in an unmarked vehicle. Four days before his arrest, Idrissa Barry and SENS had released a statement condemning the “murderous killings” of unarmed civilians in Solenzo in the Bankui region, by the government and its local auxiliaries. His fate and whereabouts remained unknown at the end of the year. Five other SENS board members were arrested in late March but later released.
In April, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, executive secretary of Le Balai Citoyen (The Civic Broom), a grassroots political movement, was arrested while returning from a trip to Benin. He had been attending a training course on activism hosted by the Foundation for the Innovation of Democracy. At the end of the year, his fate and whereabouts were still unknown.
In April, Idrissa Badini, an activist and member of the association Let’s Save Djibo – a group of residents advocating for humanitarian and government support for the city at the front line of the conflict – was abducted in Ouagadougou by security service members and taken to an undisclosed location. In October, four magistrates, including Jean-Jacques Ouedraogo, former attorney general at the Ouagadougou Court of Appeal, and Arnaud Sempebré, a lawyer, were arrested and taken to an undisclosed destination by armed men suspected to be members of the intelligence services.
Freedom of association
Throughout the year, the government further severely restricted the right to freedom of association through legislation and repressive measures. In June, the authorities suspended two international NGOs: Sant’Egidio, a lay Catholic association; and Diakonia, a development and humanitarian law organization. Both were suspended for “three months renewable” for “collection of personal data on Burkinabe territory and its storage abroad without prior authorization”. During the same period, three other NGOs were also suspended for three months for failing to comply with procedural requirements regarding their work in Burkina Faso.
In July, the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), an association supporting NGOs in conflict-affected countries, was also suspended for three months, renewable, on the same charges. In October, eight INSO staff members were charged with treason and espionage for allegedly engaging in the systematic collection of “information relating to the country’s security, political and administrative activities”, purportedly in violation of legislation. In July, the Transitional Legislative Assembly adopted a new law to regulate associations and NGOs, with the expressed motivation of preventing terrorism financing and money laundering. However, there were concerns that this law could be used to exert greater control over NGOs and their activities. In November, the government issued a decree requiring approved NGOs and associations to open their bank accounts exclusively with the Treasury Deposit Bank.
No progress was made to lift the suspensions that had been imposed on political parties after the 2022 coup.
Women’s and girls’ rights
In September, the government adopted a new Code of Persons and the Family, which strengthened the recognition of customary and religious marriages through official registration. It enshrined new guarantees for women, children and the family unit: The law harmonized the legal age of marriage at 18 for both men and women, and reduced inequalities in inheritance by allowing parents to inherit from their children.
Women and girls continued to face barriers in accessing justice and essential healthcare services.
LGBTI people’s rights
The same Code of Persons and the Family criminalized consensual same-sex relations between adults, discriminating against LGBTI+ individuals and violating their right to equality before the law.1 It established these offences as punishable by a prison sentence of two to five years, with fines ranging from XOF 2 million (EUR 3,000) to XOF 10 million (EUR 15,000).
