The repression of journalists, political opponents, human rights defenders, and dissidents in Burkina Faso by the junta has taken a worrisome turn that needs to be addressed.
Development Diaries reports that Burkina Faso’s military authorities are misusing an emergency law to unlawfully conscript magistrates, prosecutors and judges, who have opened legal proceedings against junta supporters as reported by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
We gathered that between 09 and 12 August, 2024, the Burkinabè security forces notified at least seven magistrates, including four prosecutors, two deputy prosecutors, and an investigative judge, by telephone that they had been conscripted.
They were ordered to participate in government security operations against Islamist armed groups in Kaya, Sanmatenga province, from 14 August to 13 November, 2023.
The military authorities assert that the conscription orders are authorised under the April 13, 2023 ‘general mobilisation’, part of a plan to recapture territory lost to Islamist armed groups, which control large swaths of Burkina Faso
However, six of the notified individuals who reported on 14 August to a military base in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, in response to their notifications, have not been heard from since then.
It is concerning how the military authorities continue to use unlawful conscription as well as the abductions and enforced disappearances of dozens of government critics to silence dissent.
While governments have the authority to conscript members of the civilian population age 18 and over for national defence, conscription should be authorised and in accordance with domestic law.
The conscription law needs to be carried out in a manner that gives the potential conscript notice of the duration of the military service and an adequate opportunity to contest being required to serve at that time.
Development Diaries calls on the junta in Burkina Faso to immediately stop using conscriptions to silence dissent and respect the independence of the country’s justice system.
Photo source: HRW
