Human rights defenders missing in Burkina Faso

URGENT APPEAL

BFA 002 / 0525 / OBS 022
Enforced Disappearance
Burkina Faso
May 2, 2025

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), urges immediate intervention regarding the following situation in Burkina Faso.

Situation Overview

The Observatory has received information about the enforced disappearance of Messrs. Amadou Sawadogo, a regional coordinator for the civic movement “Balai citoyen” in the Central region, and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, a sociologist and executive secretary of the same movement. Founded on August 25, 2013, Balai citoyen envisions “building a just and honest Burkina Faso within a democratic rule of law.”

On March 20, 2025, Amadou Sawadogo was summoned to the regional office of State Security in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital. He was questioned about his critical social media posts on Facebook and forced to disclose the addresses of two other activists who have since gone into hiding. The following day, March 21, 2025, after attending a second summons, he vanished without a trace, and authorities have provided no explanation or location details.

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 shortly after his return from Cotonou, Bénin, where he had participated in the first edition of the Activism School (March 24-28, 2025) organized by the Innovation for Democracy Foundation. Armed men claiming to be gendarmes seized him in front of his wife. Despite repeated inquiries by lawyers to public institutions, no information about his whereabouts has been disclosed.

As of this urgent appeal’s publication, the fate and location of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé remain unknown. Their families and colleagues continue to receive no updates.

Context of Repression

The Observatory highlights that other members of Balai citoyen have previously faced unlawful arrests. Notably, Me Guy Hervé Kam, a human rights lawyer and co-founder of Balai citoyen, was arrested on January 24, 2024, at Ouagadougou International Airport upon his return from a professional trip. This violated UEMOA regulations governing the summoning, arrest, or detention of lawyers. He was later released, only to be detained twice more and is currently held under arbitrary charges of “conspiracy and criminal association.” Other members, Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo, were forcibly conscripted into the Burkinabe army on February 20 and 21, 2024, respectively. Despite a December 6, 2023, ruling by the Ouagadougou Administrative Tribunal suspending their conscription orders, they remain at the frontlines as of this appeal.

The Observatory also notes the alarming trend of targeted abductions and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders and journalists in Burkina Faso. Recent cases include journalists Guezouma Sanogo (President of the Burkinabe Journalists Association), Boukary Ouoba (Vice-President), and Luc Pagbeguem (BF1 online media), abducted on March 24, 2025, as well as Kalifara Sere (BF1 online media), Serges Oulon, and Bayala Adama, abducted in June 2024. All remain missing.

These violations occur amid a broader crackdown on civil society and dissent in Burkina Faso, exacerbated by military authorities’ push for “patriotic treatment of information,” leading to self-censorship in independent media. The Observatory’s February 2025 report, “Civic Space and Human Rights Defenders in the Sahel: Regional Convergence of Repression Practices,” underscores the severity of the situation. It notes the issuance of two decrees in November 2022 and April 2023 by Burkina Faso’s Transitional President, allowing the conscription of any physically fit person over 18. These decrees have been selectively used to target human rights defenders and political opponents for enforced disappearance and forced enlistment as army auxiliaries. At least ten defenders have received conscription orders, heightening concerns that Sawadogo and Lankoandé may face similar fates. In March 2024, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances expressed concern over “recent allegations of targeted enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, journalists, and political opponents” in Burkina Faso, deeming some practices “liable to constitute enforced disappearances.”

Demands for Action

The Observatory strongly condemns the enforced disappearances of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, which appear to be reprisals for their legitimate human rights work. It urges the Burkinabe military authorities to:

• Ensure the physical and psychological safety of Sawadogo, Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders in Burkina Faso;
• Immediately reveal the whereabouts of Sawadogo and Lankoandé, grant them access to their families, and release them unconditionally;
• End the systematic practice of enforced disappearances and the targeted conscription of human rights defenders and journalists to silence dissent;
• Cease all harassment, including judicial persecution, against Sawadogo, Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders and journalists, ensuring they can carry out their legitimate work without fear of retaliation;
• Uphold fundamental freedoms, particularly freedom of expression and association, in line with international human rights standards, 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 for Appeals

Write to the following Burkinabe authorities:

• Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of the Transition in Burkina Faso; Twitter: @CapitaineIb22
• SEM. Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso; Twitter: @J_E_Ouedraogo
• Me Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, Minister of Justice, Human Rights, and Relations with Institutions; Email: [email protected]
• SEM Jean Marie Karamoko Traore, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation, and Burkinabe Abroad; Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @JeanMarieTraore
• National Human Rights Commission of Burkina Faso; Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @BurkinaCndhX
• Amb. Sabine Bakyono Kanzie, Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso to the UN Office in Geneva; Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
• Amb. Oumarou Ganou, 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]

Additionally, please contact the diplomatic representations of Burkina Faso in your respective countries.

Paris-Geneva, May 2, 2025

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

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of 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 EU’s mechanism for human rights defenders implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory:

• Emergency Line: [email protected]
• FIDH Phone: +33 1 43 55 25 18
• OMCT Phone: +41 22 809 49 39