Burkina Faso: release of illegally conscripted journalists and activist highlights ongoing repression

In early July 2025, Burkinabè authorities freed five journalists and a human rights advocate who had been unlawfully forcibly enlisted into the military after vocalizing criticism against the ruling military junta. While this development is a welcome step, their release also serves as a stark reminder that several other individuals remain unaccounted for, some since 2024, with no information regarding their whereabouts.

On March 24, 2024, in Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital, officials apprehended Guezouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Phil Roland Zongo, all members of the Association of Journalists of Burkina (AJB), alongside Luc Pagbelguem, a journalist from the private television channel BF1. Their arrests stemmed from their condemnation of the junta’s restrictions on free expression. Subsequently, on April 2, a video emerged on social media platforms depicting Guezouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem in military attire, fueling concerns about their compulsory enlistment. Phil Roland Zongo’s conscription, however, was not publicly acknowledged or confirmed until his eventual release.

Kalifara Séré, a commentator for BF1 TV, vanished on June 18, 2024, following a meeting with members of the Superior Council of Communication (CSC), Burkina Faso’s media regulatory body. CSC members had questioned Séré regarding a broadcast where he voiced skepticism about the authenticity of images portraying the head of state. By October 2024, authorities eventually conceded that he had been conscripted into the army, along with two other journalists, Serge Oulon and Adama Bayala. The current whereabouts of Serge Oulon and Adama Bayala remain unknown.

On November 29, 2023, individuals in plain clothes, identifying themselves as national intelligence operatives, abducted Lamine Ouattara, a prominent member of the Burkinabè Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights (MBDHP), from his residence. Relatives of Lamine Ouattara have since corroborated that he too was illegally conscripted.

Human Rights Watch has extensively documented the junta’s utilization of a sweeping emergency law to conscript critics, journalists, human rights activists, and magistrates, effectively silencing dissenting voices.

While governments possess the authority to enlist adult civilians for national defense, any such conscription must adhere to principles that inform potential recruits about the duration of their military service and provide them with avenues to challenge their service obligation.

Burkinabè authorities are urged to immediately release all individuals still unlawfully detained and to cease employing conscription as a tool to suppress media and critics.