Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

poor, with inadequate food and medical 

provisions. In June, however, Ministry of 

Justice representatives said that they were 

developing a strategic plan to improve prison 

conditions.

IMPUNITY

The trial of former President Blaise Compaoré 

and 32 former ministers before the High 

Court of Justice was repeatedly delayed; in 

June it was temporarily suspended by the 

Constitutional Council. Blaise Compaoré was 

charged with acts of wilful assault, complicity 

in assault, assassination and complicity in 

assassination in relation to the October 2014 

uprising. An international arrest warrant for 

him and his former Chief of Security, 

Hyacinthe Kafando, remained in place.

In May, an international arrest warrant was 

issued against Blaise Compaoré’s brother, 

François Compaoré, in relation to the murder 

of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo in 

December 1998. François Compaoré was 

placed under court supervision in France, 

where he was living, pending a decision on 

his extradition to Burkina Faso.

Fourteen people awaited trial in connection 

with the murder of former President Thomas 

Sankara, three of whom remained in 

detention.

The findings of an investigation into the 

attempted coup in September 2015 were 

referred to the Indictments Division for a 

decision in October. At least 106 people − 

including 40 civilians, one of whom was a 

foreign national – were charged, including 

with threatening state security, crimes against 

humanity and murder during the coup 

attempt. More than 20 of them remained in 

detention at the end of the year while 

another, General Djibril Bassolé, remained 

under house arrest having been transferred 

from detention in October. In December the 

UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 

called for his release.

WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ RIGHTS

Lack of medical equipment, medication and 

staffing in hospitals left women and newborn 

babies at serious risk of birth complications, 

infection and death. There were at least 100 

maternal deaths in the first half of the year at 

one of the two main public hospitals in 

Ouagadougou. In one hospital, overworked 

midwives carried out up to 25 caesarean 

sections a day, while shortages forced women 

patients to sleep on the floor, sometimes 

without bedding.

No progress was made towards 

implementing the government’s pledge in 

2016 to increase the legal marriage age of 

girls and women. Over 50% of girls between 

15 and 17 were married in the Sahel region 

in the north of the country. Rates of female 

genital mutilation continued to lessen 

although it remained widespread despite 

being outlawed.

ABUSES BY ARMED GROUPS

The self-defence militia called “Kogleweogo”, 

mainly comprising farmers and cattle 

breeders, continued to commit human rights 

abuses including beatings and abductions, 

despite the Justice Minister’s pledge in 

December 2016 to regulate the militia’s 

activities.

Justice Ministry officials said that 

Kogleweogo members beat a man to death in 

the town of Tapoa in January over an alleged 

chicken theft. In May, six people died, 

including four Kogleweogo members, in 

clashes between locals and Kogleweogo in 

Goundi. In the same month, the regional 

governor banned “self-defence groups” in 

Boulkiemdé and Sanguié.

There were reports that trials were 

postponed when Kogleweogo held 

demonstrations in order to protect their 

members from prosecution in Fada 

N’Gourma and Koupela.

Armed groups carried out attacks close to 

the Mali and Niger border, killing dozens of 

civilians. They also attacked police and 

military personnel. Repeated attacks in the 

Sahel region led to public officials temporarily 

vacating the region.

In late January, armed men went to several 

schools in the north and threatened teachers 

to make them adopt Islamic teaching. 

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107

Consequently, hundreds of schools closed, 

including in Soum, Oudalan and Loroum.

Ansaroul Islam claimed responsibility for 

attacking police stations in Baraoulé and 

Tongomaël on 27 and 28 February.

On 3 March, an armed group killed a school 

principal and another local person in 

Kourfayel, a village in Soum.

In August, at least 19 people were killed 

and more than 22 injured in an attack 

against a restaurant in Ouagadougou. No 

group claimed responsibility.

On two occasions in September and 

November, armed groups carried out attacks 

in Soum, killing at least nine people.

BURUNDI

Republic of Burundi

Head of state and government: President Pierre 

Nkurunziza

Restrictions on the rights to freedom of 

expression and assembly continued. The 

security forces, among others, carried out 

unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, 

torture and other-ill-treatment, arbitrary 

arrests and detention.

BACKGROUND

In October, the Council of Ministers approved 

revisions of the Constitution. The proposed 

constitutional amendments would allow 

President Nkurunziza to stand for at least two 

more seven-year terms, and reduce the size 

of the majority required to pass legislation in 

Parliament. In December, the President of 

the National Independent Electoral 

Commission announced that a referendum 

on the constitutional amendments was 

planned for May 2018.

Efforts by the East African Community 

(EAC) to find a mediated solution to the 

political crisis sparked by the President’s 

decision in 2015 to stand for a third term 

continued to stall. Michel Kafando, former 

President of Burkina Faso, was appointed as 

UN Secretary-General Special Envoy to 

Burundi in May. His role included providing 

assistance to the EAC’s political dialogue 

efforts.

The government declared a malaria 

epidemic in March. Between January and 

mid-November, 6.89 million cases and 3,017 

deaths were recorded.

UNLAWFUL KILLINGS

Unlawful killings continued. Bodies were 

regularly discovered in the streets of the 

capital, Bujumbura, and throughout the 

country. Several Burundians who were living 

as refugees in neighbouring countries said 

that they left Burundi after their relatives were 

killed, primarily by the Imbonerakure – the 

increasingly militarized youth wing of the 

ruling National Council for the Defence of 

Democracy-Forces for the Defence of 

Democracy. Others witnessed the killings of 

their family members by the Imbonerakure as 

they tried to flee the country.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

Reports of enforced disappearances 

continued, and cases from 2015 and 2016 

remained unresolved. The UN Commission of 

Inquiry on Burundi highlighted several cases 

where there were reasonable grounds to 

believe or to fear that people had been 

forcibly disappeared. Pacifique Birikumana, 

driver for the Ngozi diocese, was believed to 

have been forcibly disappeared on 8 April 

after he returned from driving a group of 

soldiers to Gitega province. The Commission 

received information that he may have been 

arrested by the National Intelligence Services 

(SNR); his whereabouts remained unknown. 

Former senator and businessman Oscar 

Ntasano went missing with two of his 

employees on 20 April after meeting a man 

said to work for the SNR. Witnesses told the 

Commission that Oscar Ntasano received 

threats from state officials in connection with 

a contract he was negotiating with the UN to 

rent office space. One state official was said 

to have threatened him with death if he 

refused to split the proceeds.

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