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Amnesty International Report 1999 - Burkina Faso

BURKINA FASO

Two detainees died apparently as a result of torture or ill-treatment. Criminal suspects were reported to have been extrajudicially executed. A prominent journalist and government critic died with three other people in suspicious circumstances. Those responsible for past human rights violations were still not brought to justice.

In November President Blaise Compaoré was elected for a second seven-year term, defeating two other candidates. Nine opposition political parties had called for a boycott of the election on the grounds that the National Independent Electoral Commission inaugurated in July was not fully independent and autonomous. International observers concluded that the election had been fair. Opposition political parties, however, claimed that there had been fraud and irregularities.

Two detainees died in custody, apparently as a result of torture or ill-treatment. Ragnanguénéwindé David Ouédraogo, the chauffeur of François Compaoré, presidential adviser and brother of the President, was arrested with two other employees on 5 December 1997 in the capital, Ouagadougou, apparently accused of having stolen a large amount of money from their employer. They were arrested by soldiers and held incommunicado at the Conseil de l’Entente premises, headquarters of the presidential security forces. They were reportedly tortured in an attempt to extract confessions. David Ouédraogo died some time before mid-January. His family was not informed at the time of his death. The two other detainees were also reported to have suffered serious injuries as a result of torture. They were subsequently transferred to a prison in Ouagadougou, the Maison d’arrêt et de correction de Ouagadougou. Prominent members of opposition political parties condemned the death of David Ouédraogo and called on the President to clarify the circumstances of the death. David Ouédraogo’s family also submitted a complaint to the judicial authorities.

David Guira, a mechanic, died after being held at the police headquarters in the district of Wemtenga, Ouagadougou. He had been arrested on 9 March, accused of theft, and held incommunicado. Although a detainee may only be held by law for 72 hours before being brought before a judicial authority to be either charged or released, the release of David Guira was not authorized until 17 March. His family were summoned to collect him the following day; they found him lying on the ground, unable to stand, with injuries to his head and body. David Guira, who had apparently been in good health before his arrest, died on 19 March.

Reports were received of extrajudicial executions of criminal suspects during a campaign against crime in 1997 and 1998. In Fada N’Gourma, Gourma Province, several captured armed robbers were reported to have been extrajudicially executed in 1997 by the security forces, including the police and gendarmerie. On 30 May 1997, for example, eight people were reported to have been summarily executed by the gendarmerie. In some cases the bodies were publicly displayed, apparently as a deterrent. Similar extrajudicial executions were reported during 1998 in other areas of the country, including in the region of Diébougou, Bougouriba Province. During the night of 5/6 September, up to 11 criminal suspects were reported to have been summarily shot by police after being arrested at diamond mining sites in avv Village 2-Walala, Guéguéré Department. Some of the bodies were left by the roadside; others were buried where they had been shot.

On 13 December Norbert Zongo, a critic of the government and editor-in-chief of the independent weekly L’Indépendant, died with three other people, including his brother and his chauffeur, on the road to Sapouy, about 100 kilometres from Ouagadougou, in circumstances that were unclear. Norbert Zongo had persistently pursued the case of the death in custody of David Ouédraogo. His badly burned body was found with those of two other passengers in a vehicle; the fourth body was found beside the vehicle. There appeared to be no evidence that the vehicle had been involved in a road accident. There was widespread outrage at the death of Norbert Zongo and the government announced that an inquiry into his death would be opened. Dozens of people were held briefly after being arrested during demonstrations protesting against the death of Norbert Zongo.

There was still no official investigation into the death of a soldier who was killed in late December 1996 (see Amnesty International Reports 1997 and 1998). The findings of official investigations into apparent extrajudicial executions in 1995 of seven men from Kaya Navio, Nahouri Province, and into the killing of two school pupils during a demonstration in 1995 at Garango, Boulgou Province, were still not made public (see Amnesty International Reports 1996 to 1998).

In April a non-governmental organization, the Mouvement burkinabè des droits de l’homme et des peuples (MBDHP), Burkinabè Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights, submitted a complaint to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights about the government’s failure to investigate and establish accountability for these and other past human rights violations. The cases included the deaths in custody of a university teacher in late 1989 and a student in May 1990 (see Amnesty International Report 1991). In October the government agreed to negotiate with the MBDHP measures needed to resolve the various cases raised in the complaint.

In early April Amnesty International wrote to the government requesting clarification of the circumstances of the two deaths of detainees and urging full, independent inquiries in order to bring anyone found responsible to justice. Amnesty International also called for effective measures to be taken to protect all prisoners and detainees from torture and ill-treatment and for the government to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The director of the President’s office replied, saying that judicial inquiries were being undertaken into the deaths and that ratification of the Convention was being considered by the government and National Assembly.

In December Amnesty International called for the investigation into the deaths of Norbert Zongo and the three others who died with him to be prompt and impartial, and, if the investigation concluded that the deaths were not accidental, for those responsible to be brought to justice. It expressed concern that official investigations into previous cases of deaths either in custody or in suspicious circumstances had not been concluded, their results had not been made public, and no one had been brought to justice. In response, the government provided details of the composition and terms of reference of the independent commission of inquiry into the deaths of Norbert Zongo and the three others.