<\/p>\n
Burkina Faso has been placed on the CIVICUS Monitor watchlist following growing concern over restrictions on civil society, political opposition, journalists and government critics under military rule.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CIVICUS Monitor West and Central Africa Researcher Dr Baiye Mbu said the decision signals that freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly are rapidly deteriorating.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we put a country on the CIVICUS Monitor watchlist, it essentially signals that civic space, that is the freedom of association, expression, and peaceful assembly, is contracting in a way that demands urgent attention,\u201d Mbu said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mbu said the scale of restrictions in 2026 made Burkina Faso\u2019s case particularly alarming. \u201cThe military authorities dissolved 118 civil society organisations in a single day in April and then suspended another 564 between late April and early May,\u201d Mbu said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Mbu, the crackdown happened before the expiry of a one-year compliance period given to organisations under new regulations. \u201cBy June 11, 2026, we are looking at over 1 174 civil society organisations either suspended or dissolved altogether. So this isn’t just serious. It’s a complete dismantling of organised civil society,\u201d Mbu said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mbu said authorities had also dissolved all political parties in January 2026 and forced the United Nations Human Rights Office to close after criticism of the country\u2019s human rights record.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The researcher said restrictions have affected ordinary citizens because many organisations provided advocacy, social services and platforms for collective action. \u201cOrdinary citizens have lost the intermediary organisations that advocated for their rights, provided social services and gave them a platform for collective action,\u201d Mbu said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mbu said journalists and critics are operating in a restrictive environment, citing arrests, prosecutions and alleged forced conscription of journalists and human rights defenders.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen five journalists arrested in October 2025 for covering sensitive interviews and also a lawyer sentenced to one year in prison simply for criticising human rights violations on Facebook,\u201d Mbu said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mbu said regional pressure on Burkina Faso\u2019s military leadership is complicated by the country\u2019s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), alongside Mali and Niger, and the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cECOWAS is weakened precisely when it needs leverage most and the AU’s influence is similarly compromised,\u201d Mbu said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mbu said meaningful pressure would require coordinated action, but added that neither ECOWAS nor the African Union currently appears capable of mounting it.<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n
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