Burkina Faso Faces Scrutiny Over Rights Crackdown

Burkina Faso has been added to the 2026 watchlist of global civil society organisation Civicus following what it describes as a sharp escalation in restrictions on civic freedoms under the military regime in the country.

According to Civicus, the authorities have used a 2025 law on freedom of association to suspend or dissolve more than 1,100 civil society organisations. The group also said student unions, journalists, religious leaders and activists critical of the government have increasingly come under pressure as restrictions on public participation have intensified.

Civicus alleged that political parties have been dissolved, media organisations suspended and space for independent voices significantly reduced. It warned that Burkina Faso is experiencing one of the fastest declines in civic freedoms in the Sahel, with the pace of restrictions outstripping neighbouring Mali and Niger.

The military government, which took power in 2022, has defended several of its actions as necessary to safeguard national security while the country continues to battle an insurgency by armed groups that has displaced millions of people and claimed thousands of lives.

Human rights organisations, however, argue that the expanding crackdown is shrinking democratic space, limiting public debate and weakening independent oversight at a time when the country’s security and humanitarian crises remain severe.

BF inclusion on the Civicus watchlist follows renewed concerns from international rights organisations over media freedom, restrictions on civil society and the recent closure of the United Nations human rights office in the country.

SOURCE: AllAfrica