In early July 2025, the Burkinabè government set free five journalists and a human rights advocate who had been forcibly and unlawfully conscripted into military service, a move that followed their criticisms of the ruling military junta. While this represents a welcome development, their freedom starkly highlights the continued disappearance of other individuals, some since 2024, with no information regarding their whereabouts.

On March 24, 2024, in Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital, authorities apprehended Guezouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Phil Roland Zongo, all members of the Association of Journalists of Burkina (AJB), alongside Luc Pagbelguem, a journalist from the private television channel BF1. Their arrests stemmed from their vocal opposition to the junta’s imposed restrictions on freedom of expression. By April 2, a video circulated widely on social media, depicting Guezouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem dressed in military fatigues, sparking considerable concern over their apparent forced enlistment. Phil Roland Zongo’s own conscription remained unconfirmed publicly until the moment of his eventual release.

Later, on June 18, 2024, Kalifara Séré, a commentator for BF1 TV, vanished following a meeting with representatives from the Superior Council of Communication (CSC), Burkina Faso’s media regulatory body. CSC members had questioned Séré regarding his public comments, which cast doubt on the authenticity of images reportedly featuring the head of state. In October 2024, officials ultimately conceded that Séré had been conscripted into the armed forces, alongside fellow journalists Serge Oulon and Adama Bayala. However, the current whereabouts of Serge Oulon and Adama Bayala remain unknown.

Prior to these events, on November 29, 2023, Lamine Ouattara, a prominent member of the Burkinabè Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights (MBDHP), was abducted from his residence by plainclothes individuals who identified themselves as national intelligence agents. Relatives of Lamine Ouattara have since corroborated his unlawful conscription as well.

Human Rights Watch has comprehensively documented the junta’s systematic utilization of a broad-ranging emergency law to forcibly enlist critics, journalists, human rights advocates, and even magistrates, effectively silencing dissenting voices.

While governments possess the authority to conscript adult civilians for national defense, any such enlistment must be implemented transparently, informing potential conscripts about the duration of military service and providing them with avenues to challenge their obligation to serve.

The Burkinabè authorities are urged to immediately release all individuals still unlawfully detained and to cease employing conscription as a tool to suppress media freedom and silence critics.