Urgent appeal for disappeared human rights defenders in Burkina Faso

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), urgently requests your intervention in the following situation in Burkina Faso.

Description of the Situation

The Observatory has been alerted to the abduction and enforced disappearance of Mr. Amadou Sawadogo, a regional manager for the citizen movement “Balai citoyen,” and Mr. Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, a sociologist and the movement’s executive secretary. Founded on August 25, 2013, Balai citoyen aims to build “a just and upright society in Burkina Faso, within a democratic rule of law.”

On March 20, 2025, Amadou Sawadogo was summoned to the regional state security service in Ouagadougou, the capital, regarding critical posts he made on Facebook. During interrogation, he was forced to reveal the home addresses of two other activists who have since gone into hiding. The following day, March 21, 2025, after attending a second summons at the same service, he was reported missing, with authorities providing no explanation or information on his location.

Later, on March 30, 2025, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé was abducted around 11:45 AM in front of his home in the Karpala district of Ouagadougou. The incident occurred upon his return from Cotonou, Bénin, where he had attended the inaugural activism school organized by the Foundation for Innovation for Democracy from March 24 to 28. Armed men, identifying themselves as gendarmes, seized him in front of his wife. Despite repeated inquiries from lawyers to public institutions, no information about him has been released.

As of this urgent appeal, the fate and whereabouts of both Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé remain unknown, leaving their families and colleagues without any news.

A Pattern of Repression

The Observatory highlights that other members of the Balai citoyen movement have previously been subjected to extra-legal arrests. Me Guy Hervé Kam, a lawyer, human rights advocate, and co-founder of Balai citoyen, was arrested on January 24, 2024, at Ouagadougou’s international airport. His arrest, which occurred as he returned from a professional trip, violated the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) regulations governing the summons and detention of lawyers. After being released and re-arrested twice, he is currently being arbitrarily detained on charges of “conspiracy and criminal association.” Furthermore, Balai citoyen members Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo were abducted and forcibly conscripted into the Burkinabè army on February 20 and 21, 2024, respectively. They remain on the front lines, despite a December 6, 2023, ruling by the Administrative Tribunal of Ouagadougou ordering the suspension of their requisition.

The Observatory also notes that the ruling military authorities in Burkina Faso are intensifying their repression against human rights defenders and journalists, notably through targeted abductions. This includes journalists Guezouma Sanogo, president of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso (AJB), Boukary Ouoba, vice-president of the AJB, and Luc Pagbeguem of the online outlet BF1, who were abducted on March 24, 2025. Other journalists such as Kalifara Sere (abducted June 19, 2024), Serges Oulon (June 24, 2024), and Bayala Adama (June 28, 2024) have also disappeared. All of them remain missing.

These abductions are part of a broader context of silencing civil society and repressing human rights defenders and journalists in Burkina Faso, especially those who expose the failings of the military authorities. This repressive climate, worsened by intense government pressure for “patriotic reporting,” is leading independent media to self-censor. The Observatory’s February 2025 report, “Civic Space and Human Rights Defenders in the Sahel: Regional Convergence of Repressive Practices,” notes that repression has reached a disturbing new level with two decrees signed in November 2022 and April 2023. These decrees allow the state to requisition any physically fit person over 18. Authorities are now using this power selectively to abduct, forcibly disappear, and conscript defenders and political opponents as army auxiliaries. In March 2024, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances expressed concern over “recent allegations of a practice of enforced disappearance targeting human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents” in Burkina Faso, concluding that several practices related to these decrees “are likely to constitute enforced disappearances.” The Observatory is therefore extremely worried about the high risk of forced requisition for Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé and vehemently opposes such an act.

The Observatory condemns the abduction and enforced disappearance of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, which appear solely intended to punish them for their legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory calls upon the military authorities in Burkina Faso to make every effort to reveal the fate and location of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, to release them immediately and unconditionally, and to shed full light on their abduction and disappearance.

The Observatory also urges the military authorities in Burkina Faso to guarantee the rights to freedom of expression and association, as enshrined in international human rights standards, particularly Articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Articles 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Actions Requested:

The Observatory kindly asks you to write to the military authorities currently in power in Burkina Faso, requesting that they:

1. Guarantee the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders in Burkina Faso in all circumstances.
2. Take all necessary measures to reveal the fate and whereabouts of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, grant them access to their families, and release them immediately and without conditions.
3. Immediately end the systematic practice of enforced disappearance, as well as the targeted conscription of human rights defenders and journalists to silence dissenting voices.
4. Cease all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders and journalists in the country, and ensure they can carry out their legitimate activities without hindrance or fear of reprisal.
5. Ensure strict respect for fundamental freedoms, particularly the right to freedom of expression and association, as guaranteed by international human rights law, including Articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Burkina Faso is a party.

Addresses:

• Captain Ibrahim Traore, President of the Transition of Burkina Faso, Twitter: @CapitaineIb22
• H.E. Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Twitter: @J_E_Ouedraogo
• Me Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, in charge of Relations with Institutions, Keeper of the Seals of Burkina Faso, Email: [email protected];
• H.E. Jean Marie Karamoko Traore, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabè Abroad; Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @JeanMarieTraore;
• National Human Rights Commission of Burkina Faso, Email: [email protected], Twitter: @BurkinaCndhX
• H.E. Ms. Sabine Bakyono Kanzie, Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
• Mr. M. Oumarou Ganou, Foreign Affairs Advisor, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations in New York (United States of America), Permanent Mission of Burkina, Email: [email protected]
• Embassy Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia / Email: [email protected] / [email protected].

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Burkina Faso in your respective countries.