The reported abduction of six judges, prosecutors, and a lawyer in Burkina Faso raises concern over how fragile the rule of law has become under the country’s military junta.

Development Diaries reports that judicial officers and a lawyer were abducted since 10 October 2025, which, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), could amount to enforced disappearances and possible unlawful conscriptions into the armed forces.

According to HRW, their cases, as well as those of four journalists who were detained and later released between 13  and 18 October, appear linked to a wave of repression by the Burkinabè military junta against the judiciary and the media.

Senior Sahel researcher at HRW, Ilaria Allegrozzi said, ‘Burkina Faso’s human rights situation has become increasingly defined by abductions, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and unlawful conscriptions of junta critics and activists.

‘The military junta should urgently locate and report on the seven missing people and release them if they have not been credibly charged with an offense’, she added.

A situation where judicial officers, the very people responsible for upholding justice, begin to disappear threatens the independence of the judiciary and also citizens’ trust in the justice system.

These abductions are part of a wider pattern of human rights violations in Burkina Faso since the 2022 coup.

In the past, HRW and other rights groups have documented growing cases of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and intimidation of journalists and civil servants.

The junta’s use of ‘unlawful conscription’, forcing civilians and critics into the military, violates both Burkina Faso’s constitution and international human rights law, particularly the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to which the country is a signatory.

A government that punishes its justice sector and silences the media is one that fears accountability.

Also, these attacks erode the separation of powers, a key principle of democracy, and deepen citizens’ vulnerability to state abuse.

The Burkina Faso authorities must immediately locate and release all missing judicial officers and lawyer, or publicly confirm their whereabouts and legal status if they are lawfully detained.

The junta must also end its intimidation of the judiciary and stop interfering with the media.