Across the sub-region, we are witnessing violations of human rights and the shrinking of the civic space. In some instances, governments and military juntas have cracked down on activists, political opponents, academics, and citizens who dare to stand up to them and oppose or criticize their policies or interventions. While some have been released following public demands and pressure, many others remain kidnapped, detained, or in grave danger. Updated monthly, this thread provides relevant details about human rights defenders at risk.
[Last updated: April 8, 2025]
[March 26, 2025]
Guezouma Sanogo (Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso (AJB)) & Boukari Ouoba (Investigative Journalist and Vice-President of AJB)
On March 24, 2025, Guezouma Sanogo, President of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso (AJB) and a journalist with Radio Télévision du Burkina (RTB), and Boukari Ouoba, investigative journalist and Vice-President of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso, were arrested by individuals claiming to be from the National Intelligence Service and taken to an unknown destination.
Luc Pagbelguem, another journalist working for the private channel BF1, was taken away on the afternoon of March 24 by “two agents of the National Security Council” (CNS), according to his media outlet.
Guezouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba’s arrests came three days after their criticism of the deterioration of the country’s media landscape.
Guezouma Sanogo also called for the release of some four journalists and columnists who have been reported missing since the beginning of 2024.
The Network condemns the illegal arrest and detention and forced disappearances of journalists in Burkina Faso and the AES. The Network calls for the release of all the above-mentioned journalists and all other citizens in Burkina Faso and across the AES who have disappeared or been conscripted against their will to fight against the terrorists.
Idrissa Barry (National Secretary, Servir et Non se Servir – opposition political group in Burkina Faso)
Idrissa Barry, a well-known political activist, journalist and national secretary of the opposition political group, Servir et Non se Servir (“To Serve and Not Serve Oneself”, or SENS), was arrested by men claiming to be gendarmes in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, sparking fears that he has been arbitrarily arrested.
His arrest follows a March 14, 2025, statement by SENS denouncing the March 11, 2025, massacre of Fulani civilians in Solenzo, western Burkina Faso, by government forces and allied militias, known as Volontaires pour la Défense de la Patrie (Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland, or VDPs). Eyewitnesses allege that the car that took him away had no licence plate.
SENS has issued a statement condemning the arrest and calling on authorities to release him. There was a public search for Barry in police and gendarmerie stations across Ouagadougou, to no avail. Prosecutors in the capital said they had not ordered Barry’s arrest.
WADEMOS Network condemns the increasing massacre of civilians, including children, by government forces and their allied militias in retaliation against local communities accused of supporting terrorist groups. Additionally, the Network calls for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts and release of Idriss Barry and all other citizens in Burkina Faso who have been kidnapped or conscripted against their will to fight against the terrorists.
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[February 23, 2025]
Abdoul Sakho (Coordinator, Forum for the Social Forces of Guinea & member, Forces Vives de Guinée (FVG)
On Tuesday, February 18, 2025, the Coordinator of the Forum for the Social Forces of Guinea and member of the Forces Vives de Guinée (FVG), Abdoul Sakho, was arrested by heavily armed, unidentified men in face masks at his home in Kiroti.
For several hours, his family and friends were unable to locate him. The following day, a group of peasants discovered him in serious condition in Forécariah, near Camp 66.
In a statement issued by lawyers representing him, they noted that Abdoul Sakho and his close associate had received threats prior to the unlawful arrests, which they had reported to the Dixin public prosecutor’s office.
WADEMOS Network condemns this unlawful act and calls for an end to acts of intimidation and harassment against civil society activists in Guinea.
Sokpor Sitsopé Honoré alias Affectio
On January 12, 2025, Sokpor Sitsopé Honoré, alias Affectio (known on Facebook as Koffi Agbenoxevi Godwin), was allegedly ambushed by a group of plainclothed police officers and arrested for a poem he posted on Facebook entitled ‘Do your part. ’ The Togolese authorities have accused him of undermining the internal security of the state.
The poem alludes to the need to end the Gnassingbé dynasty in Togo and bemoans the arbitrary exercise of power and oppression in the country, calling on Togolese to take action to break the chains of injustice.
On January 14, 2025, Sitsopé Sokpor was arraigned before the prosecutor’s office of the High Court (TGI) of Lomé, where the Senior Investigating Judge charged him with “undermining the internal security of the State”. The Court issued a committal warrant the next day, leading to his incarceration in the civil prison of Lomé.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) have denounced his arrest and called for his release. WADEMOS supports calls for an end to the suppression of critical voices in the country.
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Dr. Fabian Ihekweme (Former Foreign Affairs Commissioner, Imoh State, Nigeria)
On Wednesday, November 27, 2024, Dr. Fabian Ihekweme, a former Foreign Affairs Commissioner and vocal critic of Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, was arrested by the Nigeria Police Force in front of his wife and children at his Abuja residence. He was allegedly taken from his home and transported to Owerri, Imo State.
This development follows his recent criticism of the Hope Uzodinma administration. Police claim that he was arrested on charges of seditious and inflammatory publications aimed at inciting civil unrest in the state, adding that he was arrested and detained following due process.
Dr. Ihekweme’s detention has ignited public backlash, with activists and political commentators accusing Governor Uzodimma’s administration of stifling opposition and increasingly clamping down on dissent.
The WADEMOS Network joins in the condemnation of this attack on free speech and the weaponization of security agencies to intimidate and gag voices critical of government conduct. The Network joins the CSO community in Nigeria to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Fabian Ihekweme and for all the charges leveled against him to be dropped.
February 6, 2025 [Latest Update on Dr. Fabian Ihekweme]
Dr Fabian Ihekweme, former Commissioner for International Affairs in Imo State, has been released from police custody after being detained for almost two months. He was, however, rushed to the hospital after his release due to a deteriorating health condition and hospitalized.
His release comes after he allegedly wrote an apology letter to the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, admitting that he lied about the claims against him. The purported letter has generated controversy as some doubt its authenticity.
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[Updated: July 19, 2024]
- Oumar Sylla alias Fonikè Menguè (National Front for the Defence of the Constitution–FNDC Coordinator)
On July 9, 2024, Oumar Sylla, an activist and National Coordinator of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), was allegedly kidnapped by hooded men in plain clothes. Oumar Sylla’s kidnapping comes after his social media calls for a demonstration on July 11 to protest Guineans’ deteriorating quality of life and media suppression. Several private radio and television stations were denied their amenities beginning May 22.
Guinean officials have not acknowledged Sylla’s detention or disclosed his present location.
The FNDC Coordinator was arrested several times under the Alpha Condé regime (2010–2021) and now under the Mamadi Doumbouya regime. In July 2022, he was imprisoned, along with other activists, for “illicit demonstration and destruction of public and private buildings” in Conakry. He was released in May 2023 and cleared of all charges.
On Tuesday, July 16, lawyers at the Guinean Bar Association began a two-week strike against “arbitrary arrests” in their country. Their strike notice runs until July 31, when the Conakry court is due to hand down its judgement in the trial of the massacre of September 28, 2009. In a joint communiqué, several West African civil society organizations, including Y’aest Brrere, AfricTivistes, and Article 19, have denounced the arbitrary arrests and attacks on fundamental freedoms in Guinea.
2. Mamadou Billo Bah
On July 9, 2024, Mamadou Billoh Bah, head of the branches and mobilization of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), was arrested together with Oumar Sylla and other members of the organization in the house of the latter. Like Oumar Sylla, Mamadou Billoh Bah was arrested for inciting the public to embark on a demonstration on July 11. Mamadou Billo Bah was arrested in February 2023 for “complicity in destroying public and private buildings, assault, and battery” during other demonstrations. He was released after four months of detention and was made to pay for all charges against him.
On Tuesday, July 16, lawyers at the Guinean Bar Association began a two-week strike against “arbitrary arrests” in their country. Their strike notice runs until July 31, when the Conakry court is due to hand down its judgement in the trial of the massacre of September 28, 2009. Guinean authorities have still not recognized their detention or revealed the whereabouts of the two figures in the FNDC.
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Maître Guy Hervé Kam (Co-founder, Balai Citoyen)
On the night of January 24, 2024, Maître Guy Hervé Kam, a prominent human rights activist and co-founder of Balai Citoyen and a member of the WADEMOS Network, was kidnapped at the Ouagadougou airport by men in civilian clothes, in stark contravention of Article 6 of Regulation No. 005/2014/CM/UEMOA. The regulation borders on the harmonization of the rules governing the law profession in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, which stipulates that a lawyer cannot be summoned, arrested, or detained without an order from the Prosecutor General or the President of the Chamber of Instruction and the President of the Bar Association having been duly consulted.
He has been detained in state security buildings. The Bar Association of Burkina Faso observes that his arrest and continued detention are in “deliberate and reckless disregard of the provisions guaranteeing the freedom and independence of the lawyer and the bar.”
March 21, 2024 [Latest Update]
On Thursday, March 7, 2024, the Administrative Court decreed the immediate release of Guy-Hervé Kam.
The state officially leveled charges of “attempted breach of state security” to justify his arrest during a court hearing on March 5. These justifications were deemed null and void by the administrative court judge on March 7, 2024.
Despite the ruling of the Administrative Court, Maître Guy Hervé Kam remains in the custody of the state to date, and his family and lawyers are denied access to him.
2. Rasmane Zinaba
On Tuesday, February 20, Rasmane Zinaba was kidnapped from his home in Ouagadougou by men “in civilian clothes and armed” and then taken “to a previously unknown location.” Rasmane appeared on a list of people to be forcibly recruited by the junta at the beginning of November 2023. On December 6, 2023, the Administrative Court of Ouagadougou ruled in Rasmane’s favor, saying that the decree on general mobilization made seven months earlier by the transitional president, Ibrahim Traoré, was illegal.
The judge ordered that their recruitment by force into the ranks of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), auxiliaries supposed to support the army in its fight against the jihadist groups that have plagued the country since 2015, be suspended. No word has been heard of him or his whereabouts since then.
3. Bassirou Badjo
On Wednesday, February 21, Bassirou Badjo, an activist with Balai Citoyen and social affairs administrator at the General Directorate of National Solidarity and Humanitarian Assistance, was “abducted from his workplace” by “individuals presenting themselves as state security agents.” Badjo appeared on a list of people to be forcibly recruited by the junta at the beginning of November 2023. On December 6, the Administrative Court of Ouagadougou stated that the decree on general mobilization made seven months earlier by the transitional president, Ibrahim Traoré, was illegal.
Despite a court ruling in his favor, no word has been heard of him since then, and his whereabouts have been unknown.
4. SANOU Gérard Ismaël
On Monday, March 18, Sanou Gérard Ismaël, an activist and the Secretary General of the Save the Kossi Movement (MSK), was detained by the National Security Service in Ouagadougou.
Sanou Gérard visited Ouagadougou at the invitation of the Director of Human Resources of the Ministry of Administrative Affairs. Subsequently, he received an anonymous call directing him to the National Security Agency, where he is currently detained. Following a brief interrogation, he was allowed to call his family to inform them of his arrest. All attempts to reach him following his detention have proved futile. The reasons for his arrest have yet to be communicated.
5. Jacbabili Bemba
Jacbabili Bemba, an admin of the INFOS-TAPOA Facebook page, was kidnapped from his home by two armed individuals in civilian clothes on April 20, 2024, for denouncing the inaction of the army in the eastern region bordering Niger.
According to an update provided on the platform (on Facebook), Bemba has remained untraceable despite his relatives’ attempts to engage the authorities to understand the situation, the reasons for his kidnapping, and his place of detention.
The Facebook post also indicated that the platform has for the past decade “worked to promote the province of Tapoa, promote good governance, promote unity and the commitment of the sons, daughters, and friends of the province around its development and the well-being of the populations in this vast province in the eastern region of Burkina Faso.”
[First Published: May 16, 2024]
