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April 04, 2025 – Burkina Faso –
In April 2025, three prominent Burkinabè journalists—Guézouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem—reappeared in a video wearing military uniforms after being detained by the country’s military junta. The footage, widely circulated on social media, showed the journalists in an undisclosed location, raising serious concerns about forced conscription and the suppression of press freedom in Burkina Faso.
Sanogo and Ouoba, serving as president and vice president of the Burkina Faso Journalists Association (AJB), were arrested on March 24, 2025, following their criticism of increasing restrictions on media freedom. Pagbelguem, a reporter for private TV station BF1, was detained after covering the AJB congress, where these concerns were raised.
The video, released on April 2, 2025, depicted the journalists with shaved heads, dressed in military attire, and flanked by armed soldiers. In the footage, Ouoba stated he was “covering the reality on the ground,” but acknowledged arriving “under particular conditions,” suggesting coercion.
International organizations have condemned these actions. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described the forced conscription as a tactic to intimidate the press and enforce self-censorship. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for the immediate release of the detained journalists, highlighting that six journalists have been forcibly conscripted in less than a year.
Human Rights Watch reported that the junta has used emergency laws to conscript critics, including journalists, into the military, effectively silencing dissent. The Congress of African Journalists (CAJ) also demanded the release of the journalists and condemned the dissolution of the AJB by the junta.
These developments underscore a troubling trend of media repression in Burkina Faso, where the military government employs forced conscription as a means to stifle independent journalism and suppress freedom of expression.
Reference –
https://apnews.com/article/burkina-faso-arrests-journalists-7db111e2775b5260db329ed1936cadeb
3 detained Burkina Faso journalists appear in videos wearing military uniforms
