At least a dozen dissidents were “requisitioned” in Burkina Faso to “participate” in the anti-jihadist fight, Human Rights Watch (HRW) deplored Wednesday, November 8 in a press release sent to AFP, after similar denunciations by members of the country’s civil society.
“Between November 4 and 5,” “Burkinabe security forces notified in writing or by telephone at least a dozen journalists, civil society activists and members of opposition parties that they would be requisitioned to participate in government security operations throughout the country,” HRW wrote.
Arriving in power through a coup d’état on September 30, 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traoré signed a one-year “general mobilization” decree in April, allowing if necessary the requisition of “young people aged 18 and more” to fight against jihadists. According to Ilaria Allegrozzi, Sahel researcher for HRW, the military regime is “using” this measure “urgently to silence peaceful dissent and punish its detractors.”
The people targeted by the “requisitions” are “among others, Bassirou Badjo and Rasmane Zinaba, members of the civil society group Balai Citoyen”, a popular insurrection movement which led to the fall of former President Blaise Compaoré in 2014 .
“Individuals who criticized the junta”
HRW also quotes Daouda Diallo, secretary general of the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities (CISC), as well as “Gabin Korbéogo, president of the Democratic Youth Organization of Burkina Faso (ODJ), and journalists Issaka Lingani and Yacouba Ladji Bama”.
The NGO adds that, according to several media outlets, an anesthetist, Arouna Louré, had also been “requisitioned” on September 6 following the publication on Facebook of a “comment on the army’s response to the Islamist insurgency.” . “By targeting individuals who have openly criticized the junta,” it “violates fundamental human rights,” reports the NGO, which indicates that journalists “fear being requisitioned” in turn.
This press release follows similar denunciations by members of Burkinabe civil society. The Burkinabé Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights (MNDHP), the General Confederation of Workers of Burkina Faso (CGT-B) – a collective of unions – and Balai Citoyen were also indignant at the “requisitions” of people critical of the power.