urgent appeal – observatory
BFA 002 / 0525 / OBS 022
Enforced disappearance
Burkina Faso
May 2, 2025
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), urges immediate action regarding the following situation in Burkina Faso.
Situation overview:
The Observatory has received information about the abduction and enforced disappearance of 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 advocates for a just and transparent Burkina Faso within a democratic rule of law.
On March 20, 2025, Amadou Sawadogo was summoned to the regional state security service in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, due to his critical social media posts on Facebook. During interrogation, he was forced to disclose the addresses of two other activists now in hiding. The following day, March 21, 2025, after attending a second summons to the same service, he vanished without any explanation or location provided by the authorities.
On March 30, 2025, around 11:45 AM, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé was abducted near his home in the Karpala neighborhood of Ouagadougou. The incident occurred shortly after his return from Cotonou, Benin, where he participated in the first edition of the Activism School (March 24–28, 2025) organized by the Innovation Foundation for Democracy. Armed men claiming to be gendarmes took him in front of his wife. Despite repeated efforts by lawyers to obtain information from public institutions, no updates have been provided.
As of this Urgent Appeal’s publication, the whereabouts and status of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé remain unknown, leaving their families and colleagues in distress.
The Observatory notes that other Balai citoyen members have previously faced arrests outside any legal framework. For instance, Me Guy Hervé Kam, a human rights lawyer and co-founder of Balai citoyen, was arrested on January 24, 2024, at Ouagadougou International Airport by national security forces while returning from a professional trip. This violated UEMOA regulations governing the summoning, arrest, or detention of lawyers. He was later released, only to be re-arrested twice and is currently detained on arbitrary charges of “conspiracy and criminal association.” Additionally, Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo, both Balai citoyen members, were forcibly conscripted into the Burkinabe army on February 20 and 21, 2024, respectively, and remain on the front lines despite a December 6, 2023, decision by the Ouagadougou Administrative Court suspending their conscription orders.
The Observatory further highlights that military authorities in Burkina Faso have intensified repression against human rights defenders and journalists through targeted abductions. Recent cases include Guezouma Sanogo, president of the Burkinabe Journalists Association (AJB), Boukary Ouoba, AJB vice-president, and Luc Pagbeguem of the online media BF1, abducted on March 24, 2025. Other journalists, such as Kalifara Sere (BF1, June 19, 2024), Serges Oulon (investigative journalist, June 24, 2024), and Bayala Adama (columnist, June 28, 2024), also remain missing.
The Observatory emphasizes that these abductions are part of a broader crackdown on civil society and suppression of dissent in Burkina Faso, particularly targeting those criticizing military authorities. This repressive climate, exacerbated by government pressure for “patriotic information management,” has led independent media and journalists to self-censor, as detailed in the Observatory’s February 2025 report, “Civic Space and Human Rights Defenders in the Sahel: Regional Convergence of Repression Practices”. The report underscores the alarming escalation in Burkina Faso following the enactment of two decrees in November 2022 and April 2023 by the transitional president, enabling the conscription of all physically fit citizens over 18. These decrees have been selectively used to abduct, forcibly disappear, and conscript human rights defenders and political opponents into auxiliary military roles. At least ten defenders have received conscription orders. In this context, the Observatory expresses grave concern over the heightened risk of forced conscription for Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, strongly opposing such measures. In March 2024, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances expressed concern over “recent allegations of enforced disappearances targeting human rights defenders, journalists, and political opponents” in Burkina Faso, deeming several practices under these decrees as “potentially constituting enforced disappearances.”
The Observatory condemns the abduction and enforced disappearance of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, which appear solely intended to punish their legitimate human rights activities.
The Observatory urges Burkina Faso’s military authorities to:
- Ensure the physical and psychological integrity of Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders in Burkina Faso;
- Immediately reveal the whereabouts of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, grant them access to their families, and release them unconditionally;
- End the systematic practice of enforced disappearances and targeted conscription of human rights defenders and journalists to silence dissent;
- Cease all forms of harassment, including judicial persecution, against Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders and journalists in the country, ensuring they can carry out their legitimate work without fear of retaliation;
- Uphold fundamental freedoms, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and association, as enshrined in international human rights law, 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 action:
- Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of the Transition in Burkina Faso; Twitter: @CapitaineIb22
- Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso; Twitter: @J_E_Ouedraogo
- Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, Minister of Justice, Human Rights, and Institutional Relations, Keeper of the Seals; Email: [email protected]
- Jean Marie Karamoko Traore, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation, and Burkinabè Abroad; Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @JeanMarieTraore
- National Human Rights Commission of Burkina Faso; Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @BurkinaCndhX
- Sabine Bakyono Kanzie, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva; Email: [email protected]
- Oumarou Ganou, Advisor on Foreign Affairs and 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]
Please also write to Burkina Faso’s diplomatic missions in your respective countries.
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Paris-Geneva, May 2, 2025
Please inform the Observatory of any actions taken, referencing this appeal’s code.
The Observatory, a partnership between 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 implemented by international civil society for human rights defenders.
To contact the Observatory:
· Email: [email protected]
· FIDH Tel: +33 1 43 55 25 18
· OMCT Tel: +41 22 809 49 39
