Military authorities in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger are systematically using forced disappearances and unlawful detentions to silence critics and suppress dissent. According to the latest findings, these repressive tactics are escalating in the region, as highlighted in recent reports.
In Guinea, two prominent activists from the Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution—Mamadou Billo Bah and Oumar Sylla, also known as Foniké Menguè—were abducted from Oumar Sylla’s home the night before a major protest against rising living costs and the demand for a return to civilian rule. Mohamed Cissé, another activist arrested alongside them and later released with severe injuries, reported that the pair was taken by security forces to a secret detention site in the Loos Islands, off the coast of Conakry. The government has denied holding them, leaving their whereabouts unknown.
Without oversight, detainees face extreme risks, and their fate remains uncertain.
Silencing civil society through fear
Security forces in West Africa’s military regimes are targeting civil society members who oppose their rule, employing forced disappearances and unlawful detentions as tools of repression. Journalists, lawyers, activists, and human rights defenders are frequently seized in public, at home, or at work by armed individuals—sometimes posing as state officials. Victims are often blindfolded, forced into unmarked vehicles, and held in undisclosed locations for days, weeks, or longer. These abductions occur outside legal frameworks, with no arrest warrants, and authorities routinely deny involvement or provide no information about the detainees’ whereabouts.
Families and legal representatives are left in the dark, with some victims later discovered in informal detention sites, such as security service offices. The lack of transparency and due process is deliberate, fostering an environment of fear within civil society to stifle opposition.
Growing list of victims
In Burkina Faso, lawyer and Balai Citoyen co-founder Guy Hervé Kam was unlawfully detained for five months in 2024. Five other members of the Sens movement, which had condemned civilian massacres in the conflict, were abducted in March 2025 by armed men in civilian clothing—reportedly security forces. Despite appeals from the movement, authorities remained silent. Four journalists—Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala, Kalifara Séré, and Alain Traoré—were also taken in June and July 2024. In October 2024, authorities claimed three had been conscripted into the military under a general mobilization decree, leaving the fourth’s fate unresolved.
In Niger, journalist and blogger Samira Sabou disappeared for a week in September 2023 after her arrest at home. Lawyers for Moussa Tchangari, secretary-general of Alternatives Espaces Citoyens, only learned of his detention site two days after his arrest, following his transfer to police custody.
In Mali, Ibrahim Nabi Togola, leader of the opposition party Nouvelle Vision pour le Mali, was abducted in December 2024 by suspected state security agents and held for 45 days before being released. Guinean journalist Habib Marouane Camara was taken on December 3, 2024, by men identified as gendarmes, with no further updates on his status.
Victims of forced disappearances often face fabricated legal proceedings after their unlawful detention.
Justice as a bulwark against authoritarianism
Forced disappearances frequently lead to fabricated prosecutions, with victims transferred to police custody to face sham trials. In Burkina Faso, some detainees have been forcibly conscripted into the military, including journalists Guézouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba, president and vice-president of the Burkina Faso Journalists Association, who had criticized press freedom violations. Their families received no news for a week after their March 24, 2025, arrest until a video surfaced showing them in military uniforms.
Judicial systems must investigate forced disappearances and uphold the rule of law.
Calls for accountability are growing. Amnesty International has repeatedly urged authorities in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger to end these practices. Meanwhile, the judiciary is under mounting pressure, with at least five Burkinabè magistrates forcibly conscripted into the military in 2024 after presiding over cases involving authorities or their allies.
Despite these challenges, courts in the region are pushing back. In July 2024, Guinea’s bar association demanded the release of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, boycotting proceedings for days. Courts in Mali and Niger have also ruled against arbitrary detentions, though such rulings have placed judges at risk. International support for the judiciary in these countries is critical to preserving the rule of law and protecting the rights of the missing.
