Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Burkina Faso’s military government to immediately release three journalists arrested this week.
The journalists, including the president and deputy of the Burkina Journalists’ Association (AJB), are reportedly held in undisclosed locations.
This appeal comes amid a growing crackdown on dissent following the 2022 junta takeover.
Authorities dissolved the AJB after its president, Guezouma Sanogo, criticized the increasing “attacks on the freedom of expression and the press.”
Sanogo, his deputy Boukari Ouoba, and journalist Luc Pagbelguem were subsequently detained.
HRW expressed concern over potential enforced disappearances due to the lack of information regarding their whereabouts.
Pagbelguem’s employer, BF1 channel, faced suspension and a fine for covering Sanogo’s critical remarks.
HRW’s Sahel researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi, condemned the junta’s actions.
She called for the journalists’ immediate release and an end to the “brutal crackdown against journalists, dissidents and political opponents” in Burkina Faso.