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), urgently calls for intervention regarding the situation in Burkina Faso.

Context of the case

The Observatory has received reports of the abduction and enforced disappearance of Amadou Sawadogo, a prominent member of the civic movement Balai citoyen based in the central region, and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, sociologist and executive secretary of the same movement. Founded on August 25, 2013, Balai citoyen advocates for a “just and ethical Burkina Faso within a democratic rule of law.”

On March 20, 2025, Amadou Sawadogo was summoned to the regional state security office in Ouagadougou, where he was questioned due to critical social media posts on Facebook. He was coerced into revealing the addresses of two other activists, now in hiding. The following day, March 21, after attending a second summons to the same office, he vanished without trace or explanation from the authorities.

On March 30, 2025, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé was abducted around 11:45 AM outside his home in the Karpala neighborhood of Ouagadougou. He had just returned from Cotonou, Bénin, where he participated in the first edition of the activism school organized from March 24 to 28, 2025, by the Foundation for Innovation in Democracy. Armed men claiming to be gendarmes took him in front of his wife. Despite repeated inquiries by lawyers to public institutions, no information regarding his whereabouts has been provided.

As of this urgent appeal, the fate and location of both Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé remain unknown, leaving their families and colleagues in distressing uncertainty.

Wider pattern of repression

The Observatory notes that other members of Balai citoyen have previously faced arbitrary arrests. Notably, Guy Hervé Kam, a human rights lawyer and co-founder of Balai citoyen, was arrested on January 24, 2024, at Ouagadougou International Airport upon his return from a professional trip. This arrest violated UEMOA regulations governing the summoning, arrest, or detention of lawyers. He was initially released but subsequently re-arrested twice and is currently detained arbitrarily on charges of “conspiracy and criminal association.” Additionally, Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo were forcibly conscripted into the Burkinabè army on February 20 and 21, 2024, respectively, and remain on the front lines despite a December 6, 2023, administrative court ruling suspending their conscription orders.

The Observatory highlights that military authorities in Burkina Faso have intensified repression against human rights defenders and journalists through targeted abductions. Examples include journalists Guezouma Sanogo (President of the Burkina Faso Journalists Association), Boukary Ouoba (Vice-President), and Luc Pagbeguem (BF1 online media), abducted on March 24, 2025. Others include Kalifara Sere (BF1 online media, abducted June 19, 2024), Serges Oulon (investigative journalist, abducted June 24, 2024), and Bayala Adama (columnist, abducted June 28, 2024). All remain missing as of this appeal.

These abductions occur amid a broader crackdown on civil society and dissent in Burkina Faso, particularly targeting those criticizing military authorities. The repression has intensified due to government pressure for “patriotic handling of information,” forcing independent media and journalists into self-censorship, as detailed in the Observatory’s February 2025 report “Civic Space and Human Rights Defenders in the Sahel: Regional Convergence of Repressive Practices.” The report underscores that repression has escalated since November 2022 and April 2023 decrees signed by the transitional president, allowing the conscription of any physically fit person over 18. These decrees have enabled the selective and discriminatory use of abductions, enforced disappearances, and forced conscription of human rights defenders and political opponents into military service. At least ten defenders have reportedly received conscription orders.

The Observatory expresses grave concern over the high risk of forced conscription for Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé and firmly opposes such measures. In March 2024, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances expressed concern over allegations of targeted enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, journalists, and political opponents in Burkina Faso, stating that several practices under the decrees “may amount to enforced disappearances.”

Demands for justice

The Observatory condemns the abduction and enforced disappearance of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, which appear to be retaliation for their legitimate human rights work.

The Observatory urges the military authorities in Burkina Faso to:

1. Ensure the physical and psychological safety of Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders in Burkina Faso;
2. Immediately reveal the whereabouts of Amadou Sawadogo and Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, grant them access to their families, and release them unconditionally;
3. End the systematic practice of enforced disappearances and the targeted conscription of human rights defenders and journalists to silence dissent;
4. Cease all forms of harassment, including judicial persecution, against Amadou Sawadogo, Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, and all human rights defenders and journalists, ensuring they can carry out their legitimate work without fear of retaliation;
5. Uphold fundamental freedoms, particularly freedom of expression and association, as guaranteed by 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.

How to take action

Write to the following Burkinabè authorities:

• Captain Ibrahim Traore, President of the Transition in Burkina Faso: @CapitaineIb22
• Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso: @J_E_Ouedraogo
• Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, Minister of Justice, Human Rights, and Institutional Relations, Keeper of the Seals: [email protected]
• Jean Marie Karamoko Traore, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation, and Burkinabè Abroad: [email protected] | @JeanMarieTraore
• National Human Rights Commission of Burkina Faso: [email protected] | @BurkinaCndhX
• Sabine Bakyono Kanzie, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations Office in Geneva: [email protected] | [email protected]
• Oumarou Ganou, Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations in New York: [email protected]
• Permanent Mission of Burkina Faso to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: [email protected] | [email protected]

Please also contact Burkina Faso’s diplomatic missions in your respective countries.

Please inform the Observatory of any actions taken by referencing the code of this appeal.

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 European Union’s mechanism implemented by international civil society to protect human rights defenders.

To contact the Observatory:

• Emergency Line:
• Email: [email protected]
• FIDH Tel: +33 1 43 55 25 18
• OMCT Tel: +41 22 809 49 39