Urgent Call for Release of Detained Journalists in Burkina Faso

The CPJ has urged Burkina Faso authorities to free three journalists detained after videos showed them in military uniforms. Concerns over press freedom have escalated since their abduction. The situation reflects the junta’s broader crackdown on independent journalism, which has seen coercive measures against reporters. Advocacy groups are calling for immediate action to secure their release and restore press freedoms.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called upon Burkina Faso authorities to release three journalists detained last month after videos emerged on social media of them in military uniforms. Guézouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem were seized amidst growing concerns regarding press freedom. The video, circulated widely on Burkinabé Facebook, depicts the journalists in military attire at an undisclosed location with armed personnel behind them.

Moussa Ngom, the CPJ representative for Francophone Africa, expressed that, “The video…reinforces fears about the fate of the seven journalists kidnapped since June, six of whom are now certain to have been forcibly conscripted into the army.” Sanogo and Ouoba, who serve as the president and vice president of L’Association des journalistes du Burkina (AJB), have been outspoken critics of the junta’s increasing censorship. In a segment of the video, Pagbelguem Ouoba is seen lamenting that “the real information on the ground” is being misrepresented and that “no one can report on the security situation while being in Ouagadougou.”

This incident is part of a troubling trend of detentions and abductions affecting the media in Burkina Faso. Journalists such as Serge Atiana Oulon, Adama Bayala, and Kalifara Séré have reportedly been forcibly conscripted following their disappearances in June. The case of journalist Alain Traoré, missing since his abduction in July, exacerbates concerns regarding the military junta’s methods to suppress independent journalism.

Under the leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso’s military junta has intensified efforts to control the narrative through the imposition of emergency laws targeting perceived adversaries. In November 2023, security forces issued notifications and contacted journalists, civil society activists, and opposition members regarding mandatory participation in government security operations. The ruling transitional authorities assert that these draft orders are permissible under the April 13 “general mobilization” initiative, which grants the president expansive authority to combat the Islamist insurgency and limits civil liberties.

Press freedom organizations, including the CPJ, assert that the forcible conscription of journalists represents a deliberate strategy to suppress dissent and control information regarding national security. They are advocating for immediate measures to ensure the release of these journalists and the reinstatement of a safe environment for journalists to operate without fear of repercussions.

The urgent call for the release of detained journalists in Burkina Faso by the CPJ highlights the severe challenges faced by the press in a restrictive political environment. The chilling incidents of forced conscriptions and abductions underscore the military junta’s efforts to suppress dissent. It is imperative that international advocacy continues to seek the safe release of journalists and to promote a climate where independent reporting is protected.

Original Source: www.jurist.org