Silencing voices: the rise of forced disappearances under West African military rule

Military regimes in Mali, Guinée, Burkina Faso, and Niger are actively working to suppress any criticism of their authority. To mute dissenting voices, defense and security forces frequently resort to forced disappearances and illegal detentions, a trend confirmed by the latest annual report from Amnesty International.

Since July 9, 2024, two Guinean activists from the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution, a movement advocating for a return to constitutional order, have been victims of forced disappearance. Mamadou Billo Bah and Oumar Sylla, also known as “Foniké Menguè,” were abducted from the latter’s home on the eve of a planned protest against the high cost of living and in favor of a return to civilian governance. According to the testimony of Mohamed Cissé, another activist arrested with them but released two days later with serious injuries, they were allegedly taken by members of the defense and security forces to a detention facility in the Loos archipelago, off the coast of Conakry. The authorities deny holding Mamadou Billo Bah and Oumar Sylla, and their fate remains unknown.

In these lawless situations, victims can face the worst possible outcomes.

A campaign of fear against civil society

The defense and security forces of West Africa’s military regimes are targeting civil society members perceived as opponents through forced disappearances and unlawful detentions. A consistent pattern has emerged: journalists, magistrates, lawyers, activists, and human rights defenders are abducted from the street, their homes, or their workplaces by armed men, who may or may not identify themselves as state representatives. They are taken away in unmarked vehicles, often blindfolded, and then detained and interrogated for days, weeks, or even longer.

This entire process occurs outside the law, either without any judicial procedure or in direct violation of it. No arrest warrants are ever presented. The authorities either deny involvement or provide no information about the fate of the abducted individuals, leaving their families and lawyers without any news. It is sometimes later discovered that the individuals were held in informal detention sites, such as the offices of security services. During this uncontrolled ordeal, the worst can happen to the victims, which is precisely the fear that defense and security forces aim to instill within civil society.

The growing list of the disappeared and unlawfully detained

Among numerous other examples, in Burkina Faso, the lawyer Guy Hervé Kam, co-founder of the Balai Citoyen movement and national coordinator of the Sens political movement, was illegally detained for five months in 2024. Five other members of the Sens movement’s leadership, which had condemned massacres of civilians in the ongoing armed conflict, were abducted in March 2025 by armed men in plainclothes who, according to witnesses, identified themselves as security forces. The authorities have remained silent about their situation despite appeals from the movement. Four journalists and commentators—Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala, Kalifara Séré, and Alain Traoré (known as “Alain Alain”)—were abducted in June and July 2024. In October 2024, the authorities, who had previously given no information, announced that the first three had been conscripted into the army under a general mobilization decree. The fate of the fourth individual is still unknown.

In Niger, the whereabouts of journalist and blogger Samira Sabou were unknown for a week in September 2023 following her arrest at home. The lawyers for Moussa Tchangari, secretary-general of the organization Alternatives Espaces Citoyens and a victim of illegal detention, only learned of his location two days after his arrest when he was transferred to police custody.

© Amnesty International

In Mali, Ibrahim Nabi Togola, president of the opposition party Nouvelle Vision pour le Mali, was abducted in December 2024 by suspected state security agents. His fate was unknown until his release 45 days later. In Guinée, journalist Habib Marouane Camara was abducted on December 3, 2024, by armed men identified by witnesses as gendarmes. His loved ones have had no news of him since.

Forced disappearances and unlawful detentions often conclude with the victim being handed to police to initiate a fabricated judicial process.

The judiciary on the front line of safeguarding the rule of law

These abductions and illegal detentions often end with the victim being transferred to police custody to face a completely fabricated legal case. In Burkina Faso, they can take an even more dramatic turn: the targeted conscription of the detained person into the army, sometimes to be sent to the front lines against armed groups. This was the fate of several civil society actors and journalists, including Guézouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba, president and vice-president of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso, who had publicly condemned the increasing attacks on press freedom. Journalist Luc Pagbelguem of the private channel BF1, who had reported on their denunciations, met the same fate. Their families had no news for a week after their arrest on March 24, 2025, until a video circulated on social media showing them in military attire.

The justice system must continue its role in investigating forced disappearances.

Amnesty International repeatedly calls on the authorities in Mali, Guinée, Burkina Faso, and Niger to put an end to these forced disappearances and illegal detentions.

Faced with this arbitrary power and the fear among civil society members of being next on the list of the disappeared, the justice system must also continue to play its role by investigating forced disappearances, ending illegal detentions, and protecting individual rights.

Several magistrates in Burkina Faso have done just that with great courage, ordering the immediate release of lawyer Guy Hervé Kam. In July 2024, the Guinée Bar Association called for the release of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, boycotting court hearings for several days. Courts in Mali and Niger have also condemned arbitrary detentions. Such acts have inevitably placed justice officials themselves in the authorities’ crosshairs. At least five Burkinabè magistrates were targeted for conscription into the army in 2024 after working on cases involving the authorities or their supporters.

Despite these unacceptable pressures, the judiciaries in these countries must continue to stand against the illegal actions and authoritarian practices of the military authorities. In this regard, increased support from the international community for the justice sector in these nations is paramount. The survival of the rule of law, and perhaps the lives of the many people still missing, depends on it.