The Burkinabe authorities have admitted conscripting three journalists into the army, four months after they disappeared.
The three journalists, “Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala and Kalifara Séré were abducted in June 2024 with their whereabouts hitherto unknown. The revelation that the missing journalists have been thrust unto the war front, was made on October 24, 2024, by the Director General for Human Rights at Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Justice, Marcel Zongo, who led the country’s delegation to the 18th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul.
On June 19, 2024, Kalifara Séré, a regular feature on the private broadcast channel BF1, was reported missing. Séré’s disappearance occurred a day after the media regulator, the Conseil Supérieur de la Communication (CSC), summoned and interrogated him and the managers of BFI TV over remarks the journalist had made during a recent edition of the highly popular “7 Infos” show. The CSC accused Séré of making defamatory comments about the country’s military leader and suspended the “7 Infos” show for two weeks.
Adama Bayala, another media figure and a critical voice on the same media outlet, disappeared on June 28 after he left his office around 2pm on that fateful day. He was feared kidnapped.
Atiana Serge Oulon, Managing Editor of the investigative newspaper L’Evénement, and also a regular guest of BF1, was abducted on June 24, 2024, by individuals claiming to be from the National Intelligence Agency in Ouagadougou.
The admission by the Burkinabe authorities before the 18th Session of the ACHPR, puts to paid, speculations about the whereabouts of the three journalists, and confirms fears that they may have been conscripted.
“It is a relief to know that the three journalists are alive. But is scandalous that they have been forcibly drafted into the army to fight desperate insurgents while they have not the slightest training for anti-insurgency operations. Journalists can and are supporting the state in the ongoing operation against violent extremists. But we can do so only as journalists, not as soldiers. Each one must play its role and respect the role of the other. The authorities must discharge our conscripted colleagues immediately,” the head of a media professionals group, who wishes to remain anonymous, said in a telephone chat with the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
However, the whereabouts of a fourth missing journalist, Alain Niozè Traoré, known to Radio Omega listeners as Alain Alain, remains unknown since his abduction on July 13. Traore, who hosts a popular satirical programme called Le défouloir de Alain Alain (Letting it out), was picked up from his home around 5 a.m. by armed individuals in balaclavas who identified themselves as agents of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR).
“They promised to bring him back home before 8 am so that he would be on time for his show that day, scheduled for 10 am”, his media said in a statement released in the afternoon of July 13.
That promise was never kept as the journalist has since not been heard of, or heard from. The uncertainty surrounding the location, physical and psychological condition of Traore has been deepened by the silence of the Burkinabe authorities regarding the journalist, the fourth to be abducted in a space of a month.
The Media Foundation for West Africa is deeply concerned about the continuing violation of the rights to personal freedom and safety of the four media professionals. The reprisal abductions and subsequent punitive conscription of the three constitute a violation of press freedom. We call on the Burkinabe authorities to end the punitive conscription of Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala and Kalifara Séré, and to release them together with Alain Traore so that they can rejoin their families and resume their work.
