BFA 002 / 0525 / OBS 022
Kidnapping / Forced disappearance
Burkina Faso
May 2, 2025

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), calls for urgent action regarding the following situation in Burkina Faso.

Situation overview:

The Observatory has been informed of the kidnapping and forced disappearance of Messrs. Amadou Sawadogo, a central region activist with the civic movement « Balai citoyen », and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, sociologist and executive secretary of the same movement. Founded on August 25, 2013, Balai citoyen envisions « making Burkina Faso a just and upright society within a democratic state governed by the rule of law. »

On March 20, 2025, Amadou Sawadogo was summoned to the regional state security service in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, due to his critical posts on Facebook. He was questioned and forced to reveal the addresses of two other activists who are now in hiding. The following day, March 21, 2025, after attending a second summons to the same service, he vanished without any explanation or location disclosed by the authorities.

On March 30, 2025, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé was abducted around 11:45 AM outside his home in the Karpala neighborhood of Ouagadougou. The incident occurred upon his return from Cotonou, capital of Bénin, where he participated in the first edition of the activist school organized from March 24 to 28, 2025, by the Innovation for Democracy Foundation. Armed men claiming to be gendarmes seized him in front of his wife. Despite repeated requests from lawyers to public institutions, no information about his whereabouts has been provided.

As of this urgent appeal’s publication, the fate and location of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé remain unknown, leaving their families and colleagues without updates.

The Observatory notes that other members of Balai citoyen have previously faced arrests outside any legal framework. Me Guy Hervé Kam, human rights lawyer and co-founder of Balai citoyen, was arrested on January 24, 2024, at Ouagadougou International Airport by national security forces while returning from a professional trip, violating UEMOA regulations governing the summoning, arrest, or detention of lawyers. He was later released, only to be arrested twice more and is currently arbitrarily detained on charges of « conspiracy and criminal association. » Balai citoyen members Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo were forcibly conscripted into the Burkinabè army on February 20 and 21, 2024, respectively, and remain on the front lines as of this appeal’s publication, despite a December 6, 2023, decision by the Ouagadougou Administrative Tribunal ordering the suspension of their conscription orders.

The Observatory further highlights that military authorities in Burkina Faso are intensifying repression against human rights defenders and journalists through targeted abductions. This includes journalists Guezouma Sanogo, president of the Burkina Faso Journalists Association (AJB), Boukary Ouoba, AJB vice-president, and Luc Pagbeguem of the online media BF1, who were kidnapped on March 24, 2025. Other journalists, including Kalifara Sere, administrator and columnist for BF1 (kidnapped June 19, 2024), Serges Oulon (investigative journalist, kidnapped June 24, 2024), and Bayala Adama (columnist, kidnapped June 28, 2024), remain missing.

The Observatory emphasizes that these abductions are part of a broader crackdown on civil society and the suppression of human rights defenders and journalists in Burkina Faso, particularly those criticizing the military authorities. This repressive climate, exacerbated by government pressure for « patriotic information treatment, » has led independent media and journalists to self-censor, as detailed in the February 2025 report « Civic space and human rights defenders in the Sahel: regional convergence of repression practices ». The report underscores that repression in Burkina Faso has reached alarming levels with the signing of two decrees in November 2022 and April 2023 by the Transition President, enabling the conscription of any physically able person over 18. Under these decrees, authorities selectively and discriminatorily abduct human rights defenders and political opponents, forcibly conscripting them into the military. Several defenders have received conscription orders from the military command. In this context, the Observatory expresses grave concern over the high risk of forced conscription for Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé and strongly opposes such actions. In March 2024, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances expressed concern over reports of targeted enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, journalists, and political opponents in Burkina Faso, deeming several practices under these decrees « likely to constitute enforced disappearances. »

The Observatory condemns the abduction and forced disappearance of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, which appear aimed solely at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory urges Burkina Faso’s military authorities to take all necessary measures to reveal the fate and location of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, secure their immediate and unconditional release, and thoroughly investigate their abduction and forced disappearance.

The Observatory also calls on Burkina Faso’s military authorities to uphold freedom of expression and association rights, 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.

Required actions:

The Observatory urges you to write to Burkina Faso’s current military authorities, demanding that they:

1. Ensure the physical safety and psychological well-being of Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders in Burkina Faso;
2. Take all necessary steps to reveal the fate and location of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, grant them access to their families, and secure their immediate and unconditional release;
3. Immediately cease the systematic practice of enforced disappearances and targeted conscription of human rights defenders and journalists to silence dissenting voices;
4. End all forms of harassment, including judicial persecution, against Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders and journalists in the country, ensuring they can conduct their legitimate human rights work without fear of reprisals;
5. Strictly respect fundamental freedoms, particularly 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 Burkina Faso’s Transition, Twitter: @CapitaineIb22
• Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Twitter: @J_E_Ouedraogo
• Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, Minister of Justice, Human Rights, and Institutional Relations, Keeper of the Seals of Burkina Faso, Email: [email protected]
• 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
• Sabine Bakyono Kanzie, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the UN Office and International Organizations in Geneva, Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
• Oumarou Ganou, Advisor for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the UN in New York, Email: [email protected]
• Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Please also write to Burkina Faso’s diplomatic missions in your respective countries.

***
Paris-Geneva, May 2, 2025

Please inform the Observatory of any actions taken, referencing the code of this appeal.

The Observatory, a partnership between FIDH and OMCT, is dedicated to protecting human rights defenders facing violations and providing concrete support. FIDH and OMCT are members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU’s mechanism for human rights defenders implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, use the Emergency Line:
· Email: [email protected]
· FIDH Tel: +33 1 43 55 25 18
· OMCT Tel: +41 22 809 49 39