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: 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.
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 on an invitation from 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. He was allowed to call his family to inform them of his arrest following a brief interrogation. 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]
