February 28, 2024
Cited Article by Human Rights Watch
HRRC condemns the escalating human rights abuses, particularly enforced disappearances and arbitrary conscriptions, perpetrated by the military junta in Burkina Faso.
News Brief
The military junta in Burkina Faso is intensifying its crackdown on civil society activists and political opponents, leading to concerns of enforced disappearances. Since late November 2023, at least six activists and opposition members have been abducted in Ouagadougou, raising alarms about human rights abuses. The Burkinabé authorities are urged to take urgent measures to locate the missing individuals, cease abusive conscriptions, and hold those responsible for the abductions accountable.
Despite previous court rulings declaring the conscriptions unlawful and violating fundamental rights, the junta persists in using conscription as a tool to suppress dissent, instilling fear among activists, journalists, and civil society members and exacerbating the already shrinking civic space in the country. The crackdown comes amid a backdrop of increased insecurity in Burkina Faso, with the government justifying its actions under the guise of combating insurgency.