Burkina Faso is experiencing a disturbing period of oppression, marked by targeted attacks on journalists and human rights activists.
On Saturday 22 March 2025, four members of the Sens movement (Servir et Non se Servir) were abducted after the movement published a press release denouncing the massive murderous attacks perpetrated against the people of Solenzo on 11 March 2025. A few days earlier, on 18 March 2025, Idrissa Barry, a journalist and activist from the SENS movement, had also been arbitrarily arrested.
This wave of arbitrary arrests intensified on Monday 24 March 2025 with the arrest of Guezouma Sanogo, president of the Association des Journalistes du Burkina (AJB), and Boukari Ouoba, vice-president of the AJB. According to the Association, the two men were abducted at the Norbert Zong National Press Centre (CNP-NZ) by individuals who identified themselves as officers from the National Intelligence Agency. They were then taken to an unknown destination, as indicated in a note published on the Facebook page of the Norbert Zong National Press Centre (CNP-NZ).
The motives behind these arbitrary arrests remain unclear. They occurred shortly after a general meeting of the AJB in Ouagadougou on 21 March 2025, where Guezouma Sanogo was reappointed as president. At the meeting, media professionals adopted resolutions calling for the release of detained journalists, stronger solidarity within the profession, and an end to attacks on press freedom and the right to information.
The arbitrary arrest of Idrissa Barry and the four other members of the Sens movement, as well as the arrest of Guezouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba, brings to seven (7) the number of journalists and media actors who have been arbitrarily arrested since June 2024. This wave of arrests began with the abduction of Serge Atiana Oulon, editor of the investigative fortnightly L’Événement, who was arrested under similar circumstances and taken to an unknown location.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is extremely concerned about the arrests of these journalists and media actors, and urges the Burkinabe authorities to, as a matter of urgency, undertake all necessary actions for their release and to put an end to these acts of harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary arrest.
The MFWA also calls on the African Union to engage the Burkinabe authorities on these acts of repression and intimidation, to ensure the safety of citizens, the media, and other human rights advocates.