Burkina Faso: Exiled Burkina Publisher Tells RFI of Repression and Fear Four Years After Coup

What the report says

Burkina Faso is marking four years since Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in a coup on 30 September 2022, and Radio France Internationale reports that exiled publisher Inoussa Ouédraogo is describing the period as one of growing repression and fear. Ouédraogo, formerly publishing director of the weekly Bendré and head of the country’s private press publishers’ group, now lives abroad and spoke to RFI about what he sees as a worsening human rights situation.

According to the report, Traoré has presented himself as a successor to anti-colonial leader Thomas Sankara and has framed his rule around sovereignty, Pan-Africanism and the fight against jihadist violence. The article says Burkina Faso has remained under military rule while attacks by Islamist militants and displacement continue, and it notes allegations that journalists, magistrates, civil society figures and others have been abducted or pressured. Ouédraogo told RFI that the security threat does not justify repression and that authorities are using the conflict to consolidate power.

The RFI interview also highlights the tension between the regime’s development agenda and its rights record. Ouédraogo acknowledged projects such as a gold refinery and highway plans, but argued they do not offset the decline in civil liberties or worsening living conditions. The report says he and the Anti-Putschist Front have documented more than 200 alleged abductions and torture cases, though that figure is attributed to his group and not independently verified in the text. In broader context, Burkina Faso has faced years of instability tied to the wider Sahel security crisis.