forced disappearances: a tool of repression by West African military regimes
Military authorities in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger are systematically silencing dissent through forced disappearances and unlawful detentions. According to the latest findings, this pattern of repression has intensified, with security forces targeting activists, journalists, and civil society leaders to stifle opposition and maintain control.
In Guinea, two prominent members of the Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution—Mamadou Billo Bah and Oumar Sylla (alias Foniké Menguè)—vanished on July 8, 2024, just before a major protest against rising living costs and the demand for a return to civilian rule. Mohamed Cissé, another activist arrested with them and later released with severe injuries, reported that they were taken to an undisclosed detention site in the Loos Islands off Conakry. Despite demands for accountability, Guinean authorities continue to deny holding them, leaving their fate unknown.
In these unchecked abductions, victims face unimaginable risks, and fear becomes the regime’s most powerful weapon.
spreading fear through civil society
Across West Africa, military regimes deploy forced disappearances and unlawful detentions as a deliberate strategy to crush dissent. Lawyers, judges, journalists, activists, and human rights defenders are routinely abducted from their homes, workplaces, or public spaces by armed groups—sometimes in plain clothes, sometimes posing as state agents. Victims are blindfolded, forced into unmarked vehicles, and held in secret locations for days, weeks, or even months without legal recourse.
This systematic abuse occurs outside any judicial framework. Authorities either deny involvement or remain silent, leaving families and legal representatives in the dark. Detainees are often held in informal facilities, such as security service offices, where torture and coercion are common. The ultimate goal? To instill paralyzing fear within civil society and suppress any challenge to military rule.
the growing list of the forcibly disappeared
Cases continue to mount across the region. In Burkina Faso, lawyer and co-founder of Balai Citoyen, Guy Hervé Kam, was illegally detained for five months in 2024 after speaking out against civilian massacres. In March 2025, five members of the political movement Sens—who had also condemned atrocities—were abducted by armed individuals claiming to be security forces. Authorities have refused to comment, despite urgent appeals from civil society groups. Four journalists—Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala, Kalifara Séré, and Alain Traoré (known as “Alain Alain”)—were forcibly taken in June and July 2024. In October 2024, authorities finally acknowledged that the first three had been forcibly conscripted into the military under a general mobilization decree, while the fourth remains unaccounted for.
In Niger, journalist and blogger Samira Sabou was held incommunicado for a week in September 2023 after her arrest at home. Similarly, Moussa Tchangari, secretary-general of Alternatives Espaces Citoyens, was illegally detained, with his lawyers only learning his whereabouts two days later when he was transferred to police custody.
Meanwhile, in Mali, Ibrahim Nabi Togola, president of the opposition party Nouvelle Vision pour le Mali, was abducted in December 2024 by suspected state security agents and held for 45 days before being released. In Guinea, journalist Habib Marouane Camara was taken by armed men identified as gendarmes on December 3, 2024, and has not been heard from since.
Many forced disappearances end with victims being handed over to police to face fabricated charges, further entrenching injustice.
justice as a bulwark against impunity
In some cases, detainees are transferred to police custody only to face sham trials. In Burkina Faso, the situation is even more alarming: detainees, including civil society leaders and journalists, have been forcibly conscripted into the military—sometimes sent to the front lines against armed groups. This was the fate of Guézouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba, president and vice-president of the Burkina Faso Journalists’ Association, who had criticized press freedom violations, and journalist Luc Pagbelguem of private channel BF1, who amplified their concerns. After a week without news post-arrest on March 24, 2025, a video surfaced showing them in military uniforms.
Justice systems across the region are under immense pressure. Despite risks, some judges and magistrates have resisted. In Burkina Faso, courts ordered the immediate release of Guy Hervé Kam. In Guinea, the bar association boycotted proceedings for weeks demanding the release of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah. Courts in Mali and Niger have also condemned arbitrary detentions, though such rulings often expose judges to retaliation. In 2024 alone, at least five Burkinabè magistrates were forcibly conscripted into the military after handling sensitive cases involving authorities or their allies.
Despite relentless intimidation, the judiciary must continue to uphold the rule of law. International support for justice systems in these nations is critical—not only to protect those still missing but to preserve the very foundations of democracy in the region.
