from ISSOUF TRAORE in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso Bureau
OUAGADOUGOU, (CAJ News) – EXILED journalists are on the list of activists listed as terrorists wanted by Burkina Faso authorities.
Burkina Faso’s security minister has published a list of individuals who are “actively wanted for criminal association in relation to a terrorist enterprise,” and called on the public to provide information on their whereabouts.
Among those wanted are Jafar Dicko, head of the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen, (JNIM), which has been fighting Burkina Faso’s armed forces since 2016, and other jihadist leaders such as Dicko Hamadoun, alias “Poulkotou”; Bolly Oumarou Idrissa, alias “Oumi”; and Dicko Hamadou Abou.
The list also includes prominent critics of the authorities, such as exiled journalists Newton Ahmed Barry and Abdoulaye Barry, as well as exiled activists Naïm Touré; Ouédraogo Aminata, alias “Aminata Raschow”; Coulibaly Oumar; Barry Al Hassane and Maixent Somé.
Some of these critics had recently denounced a massacre by government-allied militias of civilians around Solenzo, in western Burkina Faso, on March 11.
In a March 15 interview Ahmed Barry described the junta led by Ibrahim Traoré as “tyrannical” and explained why he was forced to flee Burkina Faso.
“When you don’t agree with [the junta], you have the choice between exile, prison, or the front, and therefore death,” Ahmed Barry said.
Since taking power in a 2022 coup, military authorities have cracked down on the media, political opposition and peaceful dissent, outside and inside the country.
On March 30, gunmen claiming to be gendarmes arrested Miphal Ousmane Lankoandé, executive secretary of the civil society group, Balai Citoyen, in Ouagadougou, media and members of the group reported.
Lankoandé’s current location is unknown.
– CAJ News