Burkina Faso’s ruling junta has suspended the country’s largest student union and arrested its leader, official sources said on Wednesday – the latest round in a crackdown by the military authorities on independent organisations.
- +Burkina Faso junta suspends country’s student union
The General Union of Students of Burkina (Ugeb) was suspended for three months for “advocating terrorism” by a decree from the minister for territorial administration.
The General Union of Students of Burkina (Ugeb) was suspended for three months for “advocating terrorism” by a decree from the minister for territorial administration.
The junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, seized power in a 2022 coup and has pursued a hardline policy against dissenting voices, dissolving or suspending nearly 1,000 independent organisations in recent weeks.
The move against Ugeb comes after the union last week denounced “violations of democratic, trade union, and political freedoms” and complained about citizens being abducted, detained and held in secret.
Ugeb also criticised the junta for its “obvious inability to restore security” in a country still undermined by jihadist violence across most of its territory.
The student body said around 10 students, including its president Wilfried Bazo, were arrested during the night of Monday to Tuesday by a group of armed, unidentified individuals in plain clothes, who stormed their headquarters in Ouagadougou.
Prosecutors have said they will conduct a judicial probe into the student organisation, in light of the “gravity” of the “writings and statements attributed to Ugeb”.
Rights campaign group Human Rights Watch condemned the suspension of Ugeb.
“Silencing students will not address Burkina Faso’s worsening security and governance crisis, including expanded attacks by an Islamist insurgency,” HRW said.
