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(Nairobi)– Burkina FasoMilitary authorities in Burkina Faso have abused a state of emergency law to illegally recruit judges (prosecutors and judges) to initiate legal proceedings against junta supporters, Human Rights Watch said today. The recent recruitments come amid the Burkina Faso junta’s growing crackdown on dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders, and political opponents.
From August 9 to 12, 2024, the Burkina Faso Security Forces Notified At least seven magistrates, including four prosecutors, two deputy prosecutors and an investigating judge, were contacted by phone and said they had been drafted into an operation by government security forces against Islamist armed groups in Kaya, Sanmatenga province, between August 14 and November 13. Two judicial sources said six of them went to a military base in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on August 14 to respond to the notice but have not been heard from since.
“The Burkina Faso junta is not deceiving anyone by forcing prosecutors who are bringing legal cases against junta supporters to serve in the military,” he said. Ilaria AllegrozziSenior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should immediately rescind these false conscription notices.”
The military authorities claim that the conscription order was authorized by a decree of April 13, 2023.general mobilization,This is part of a plan to retake territory lost to Islamist militant groups that control Blockbuster Burkina Faso. The plan aims to establish a “legal framework” for all operations against rebels and Given The president has broad powers to fight insurgency, including the requisition of people and goods and the restriction of civil liberties.
On August 13, a court in Bobo-Dioulasso, western Burkina Faso, ruled that expropriation orders by two of the city’s seven magistrates were “manifestly illegal” and violated “the fundamental freedoms of the persons concerned,” and ordered the government not to enforce them.
On August 15 statementThe federation of Burkina Faso’s three magistrates’ unions said authorities were targeting the seven magistrates because they were handling cases involving people who “claimed to be staunch supporters of the current government.” The unions also said “these orders are a humiliation and intimidation of the magistrates” and that “the authorities continue to enforce them despite judicial decisions declaring them invalid.”
Among those targeted by the conscription order is the prosecutor of the Ouagadougou High Court, who has instructed police to investigate residents’ allegations of enforced disappearances of their relatives, judicial sources said.
Magistrates’ Union statement One of the judges called in was reportedly a judge at the Zinyare High Court in Obritenga province, who was trying a case against a junta supporter suspected of illegal mining activities that led to a landslide that killed about 60 people. Another judge called in was a prosecutor at the Boromo High Court in Balé province, who instructed the police to investigate a case of livestock theft by junta allies and civilian auxiliaries of the Burkina Faso Armed Forces.
Human Rights Watch has extensively documented the use of illegal conscription to silence dissent, as well as the abduction and enforced disappearance of dozens of government critics and dissidents since late 2023.
On June 28, Adama Bayala, a commentator on the private television station BF1 Echo Press, He disappeared after leaving his office in Ouagadougou. A few days ago, a message was posted on the pro-military government Facebook page Anonymous Elite Alpha He referred to previous kidnappings of dissidents and journalists and warned that “he will be next.”
On June 24, a gunman claiming to be an intelligence officer Kidnapped Serge Oulon, director of the bimonthly magazine Events, at his home in Ouagadougou. In December 2022, Oulon wrote an article Condemned an army captain for allegedly misappropriating about 400 million CFA francs ($660,000) of funds that were part of the budget to support the Civilian Auxiliary Forces.
On June 18, Kalifa Séré, BFI TV critic 7 InformationSeré reportedly disappeared after returning to his office in Ouagadougou from a meeting at Burkina Faso’s media regulator, the High Communications Council. Seré’s confidants told Human Rights Watch that the council questioned him about his June 16 televised comments in which he expressed doubts about the authenticity of some photographs of heads of state. The three remain missing, and authorities have not disclosed any information about their whereabouts.
In February, Human Rights Watch Reported There are also six cases of possible illegal recruitment of activists and opposition party members. They are Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo, both Civil Society The Broom Citizens Group; Guy Hervé Kam, a prominent lawyer and coordinator of the political group “To Serve and Not To Be Served”; Ablassé Ouédraogo, president of the opposition party Le Faso Autre (The Alternative Faso); Daouda Diallo, a prominent human rights activist and secretary-general of the Collective against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities; and Lamine Ouattara, a member of the Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights in Burkina Faso (Movement for Human and People’s Rights in Burkina Faso). At least four of them appear to have been illegally recruited.
A court in Ouagadougou on December 6, 2023 Decided The conscription orders against Chinaba and Baggio were illegal and the authorities were ordered to suspend the conscription, but they were still forced to leave.
While governments have the right to conscript civilians over the age of 18 for national defense, conscription should be authorized and in accordance with domestic law. Conscription laws should be enforced in a way that potential conscripts are informed of the duration of their service and have ample opportunity to contest the requirement to serve at that time. Conscription should also be conducted in accordance with standards consistent with non-discrimination and equal protection of the law. Politically motivated conscription violates international standards of human rights protection.
“The Burkina Faso junta appears to have no qualms about interfering with the judicial process to protect its supporters from prosecution,” Allegrozzi said. “The junta should immediately stop using conscription to silence dissent and respect the independence of the judicial system.”
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