Enforced disappearances of human rights defenders in Burkina Faso
Enforced disappearances of human rights defenders Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé and Amadou Sawadogo in Burkina Faso
URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY
BFA 002 / 0525 / OBS 022
Kidnapping / Enforced disappearance
Burkina Faso
2 May 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), urges immediate action regarding the situation in Burkina Faso.
Situation overview:
The Observatory has received reports confirming the kidnapping and enforced disappearance of Amadou Sawadogo, a Central Region coordinator for the citizen movement « Balai citoyen », and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, a sociologist and executive secretary of the same movement. Founded on 25 August 2013, Balai citoyen envisions « making Burkina Faso a just and upright society within a democratic rule of law ».
On 20 March 2025, Amadou Sawadogo was summoned to the regional state security office in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital. This followed his critical social media posts on Facebook, where he was questioned and forced to disclose the addresses of two other activists who subsequently went into hiding. The next day, on 21 March 2025, after attending a second summons to the same office, he vanished without any explanation or trace provided by the authorities.
On 30 March 2025, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé was abducted around 11:45 AM outside his home in the Karpala district of Ouagadougou. He had just returned from Cotonou, Bénin, where he participated in the first edition of the activism school organised by the Innovation for Democracy Foundation from 24 to 28 March 2025. 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 disclosed.
As of this urgent appeal’s publication, the fate and location of both Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé remain unknown, leaving their families and colleagues in distressing uncertainty.
The Observatory notes that other members of Balai citoyen have previously faced arrests outside any legal framework. Guy Hervé Kam, a human rights lawyer and co-founder of Balai citoyen, was arrested on 24 January 2024 at Ouagadougou International Airport by the National Security Service while returning from a professional trip, violating UEMOA regulations on summoning, arresting, or detaining lawyers. He was later released before being arrested twice more and is currently detained on arbitrary charges of « conspiracy and criminal association ». Balai citoyen members Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo were forcibly conscripted into the Burkinabè army on 20 and 21 February 2024 respectively and remain on the frontlines as of this appeal’s publication, despite a 6 December 2023 ruling by the Ouagadougou Administrative Court suspending their conscription orders.
The Observatory highlights that Burkina Faso’s military authorities are escalating repression against human rights defenders and journalists through targeted kidnappings. This includes the abductions of journalists Guezouma Sanogo, president of the Burkina Faso Journalists Association (AJB), Boukary Ouoba, AJB vice-president, and Luc Pagbeguem of the online media outlet BF1, who were kidnapped on 24 March 2025. Others remain missing, including Kalifara Sere, administrator and columnist for BF1 (kidnapped 19 June 2024), Serges Oulon, investigative journalist (kidnapped 24 June 2024), and Bayala Adama, columnist (kidnapped 28 June 2024).
The Observatory stresses that these abductions occur amid a broader crackdown on civil society and repression of human rights defenders and journalists in Burkina Faso, particularly those criticising the military authorities. This repressive climate, intensified by government pressure to adopt a « patriotic approach to information », has driven independent media and journalists toward self-censorship, as outlined 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 following two decrees signed in November 2022 and April 2003 by the Transition President, enabling the conscription of any physically fit person over 18. Authorities now selectively use kidnapping and enforced disappearance to silence activists and political opponents, forcibly recruiting them as military auxiliaries. At least ten 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 firmly opposes such measures. In March 2024, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances expressed concern over « recent allegations of enforced disappearances targeting human rights defenders, journalists, and political opponents » in Burkina Faso, stating that several practices under these decrees « may constitute enforced disappearances ».
The Observatory condemns the enforced disappearances of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, which appear solely intended to punish them for their legitimate human rights activities.
The Observatory urges Burkina Faso’s military authorities to take all necessary steps to reveal the fate and whereabouts of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, secure their immediate and unconditional release, and fully investigate their abductions and enforced disappearances.
The Observatory also calls on the military authorities to uphold the rights to freedom of expression and association as enshrined in international human rights standards, particularly Articles 19 and 22 of the UN 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 military authorities, demanding they:
- Ensure, at all times, the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders in Burkina Faso;
- Take all necessary measures to disclose the fate and whereabouts of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, grant them access to their families, and secure their immediate and unconditional release;
- Immediately cease the systematic practice of enforced disappearances and targeted conscription of human rights defenders and journalists to silence dissent;
- End all harassment, including judicial harassment, against Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders and journalists in the country, ensuring they can carry out their legitimate human rights activities without hindrance or fear of retaliation;
- Uphold fundamental freedoms by guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression and association in all circumstances, in line with international human rights law, particularly Articles 19 and 22 of the UN 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, Ministry 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. Sabine Bakyono Kanzie, Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso to the UN and other International Organisations in Geneva, Email: [email protected] / [email protected];
- M. Oumarou Ganou, Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations 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 representations in your respective countries.
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Paris-Geneva, 2 May 2025
Please inform the Observatory of any actions taken, quoting this appeal’s reference code.
The Observatory, a partnership between FIDH and OMCT, is dedicated to protecting human rights defenders facing violations and providing them with concrete support. FIDH and OMCT are members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union’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
