Politics

Burkina Faso junta conscripts magistrates. Here’s why

Published

4 weeks ago

August 18, 2024

According to a joint statement from three magistrate unions, at least six Burkina Faso magistrates have been conscripted into the military this month for their actions against pro-junta activists and other people.

The military dictatorship in charge of the West African nation, which took over in a coup in 2022, is notorious for treating dissent by abducting and enlisting opponents and pressuring people to report suspicious neighbours for the sake of national security.

“The magistrates’ unions have determined that these magistrates have in the recent past dealt with the cases of citizens claiming to be staunch supporters of the current government,” they said in the statement.

A judge managing the case of a pro-junta person who had triggered a landslip that killed about sixty people, as well as a prosecutor who had given police instructions to look into citizens’ allegations of forced disappearances, are among those targeted, the statement continued.

Last year, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who is President of the Transitional Government, signed an order that set up a “general mobilisation and warning.” This gave him a lot of power to limit people’s rights, supposedly to fight terrorist groups. The order said that the transitional government could demand people, goods, and services, and it also gave them the power to limit certain rights.

Reports of arbitrary or illegal killings, including killings that didn’t happen in court, enforced disappearances, torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by or on behalf of the government, arbitrary arrest or detention, and serious problems with the independence of the judiciary are part of human rights issues with concerns under the regime.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are among the critics who have repeatedly asked the military rulers to react to these claims.

The country is battling a jihadist insurgency that began 12 years ago and has since extended over the Sahel region south of the Sahara.

Burkina Faso junta conscripts magistrates. Here’s why

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are among the critics who have repeatedly asked the military rulers to react to these claims.

The country is battling a jihadist insurgency that began 12 years ago and has since extended over the Sahel region south of the Sahara.

Related Topics:Burkina Faso Featured Magistrates Military Junta

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Politics

Tunisian court mandates electoral commission to reinstate presidential contenders

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The highest court in Tunisia has issued an order requiring the electoral commission to re-enter two candidates for an October presidential election, cautioning that not doing so might compromise the election’s credibility.

The Administrative Court’s decision was made in rising political unrest in the nation of North Africa, where opposition parties and civil society organisations are concerned that a rigged election could give President Kais Saied a second term.

In the largest demonstration against constraints on liberties and the undemocratic electoral environment in Tunisia in two years, thousands of Tunisians came to the streets on Friday. Among the shouts screamed by the demonstrators was “Out with dictator Saied.”

Tensions increased after the electoral commission, citing purported flaws in their candidacy forms, rejected the court’s decision earlier this month to restore the candidatures of Abdellaif Mekki, Mondher Znaidi, and Imed Daimi ahead of the contest on October 6.

The president himself appointed the committee’s members, and major parties and civil society organisations claimed that this meant the president was using the inquiry as a weapon against his opponents.

Regarding the charges, commission president Farouk Bouasker has stated that “the commission is the only constitutional body entrusted with the integrity of the election” and refuted them. However, the commission must carry out its mandate and, if needed, revise the election schedule, the court ruled on Saturday. It’s unclear if this entails delaying the election or prolonging the campaign.

“Otherwise it would lead to an illegal situation that conflicts with the electoral law and the transparency of the electoral process”, it said.

Following their filing of a new complaint against the commission’s ruling, the court requested that Znaidi and Mekki be allowed to participate in the race. Daimi, the third contender, hasn’t yet submitted a second appeal.

After winning a democratic election in 2019, Saied strengthened his hold on power and started governing by decree in 2021—a move that the opposition has called a coup.

Politics

Under their new coalition, Mali, Burkina, Niger to launch biometric passports

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As part of their departure from the West African bloc in favour of a new Sahel alliance, military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will implement new biometric passports, the countries’ leaders announced on Sunday.

Together, the three Sahelian neighbours run by juntas declared in January that they would be exiting the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), despite efforts by the organisation to convince them otherwise.

In July, the three West African nations signed a confederation treaty demonstrating their will to forge on together outside of the regional political and economic bloc that has been pressuring them to revert to democratic governance.

Earlier this month, Burkina Faso declared that it will no longer be issuing passports with the ECOWAS emblem.

“In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonising travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world”, Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening.

On the eve of the decision to form their alliance, the foreign ministers of the three nations will meet on Monday. He made this statement beforehand.

In addition, Goita announced that they intended to open a common information channel “to foster a peaceful exchange of information among our three states.”

Meanwhile, ECOWAS had warned that the 400 million residents of the 49-year-old bloc would lose their freedom of movement and access to the common market if the three countries were to exit,

Their withdrawal coincides with their troops fighting militants associated with the Islamic State and al Qaeda, whose insurgencies have caused instability in the area for the previous ten years and pose a threat to those bordering West Africa.