Rights groups demand release of Burkina Faso journalist held in secret detention News
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Rights groups demand release of Burkina Faso journalist held in secret detention

Burkina Faso’s authorities have failed to account for the whereabouts of journalist Atiana Serge Oulon two years after she was forcibly “disappeared” by state security forces, a coalition of rights groups said Monday, renewing demands for his immediate release.

Oulon, who is the director of the newspaper L’Événement (The Event), known for his investigative reporting on government corruption, was reportedly taken by state security agents in June 2024 from his home in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital.

The joint statement was issued by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, Observatoire Kisal, and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture. The groups warn that enforced disappearance is a crime under international law. They have urged Burkina Faso’s government to disclose Oulon’s location and condition, release him without delay, and investigate those responsible. Human Rights Watch (HRW) senior researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi said:

Several dozens of government critics have been unlawfully conscripted and deployed to combat zones without adequate training. This cruel practice appears intended to pressure critics into submission through fear and coercion.

Reporters sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders, or RSF) reported in May 2026 that Oulon was held in private houses converted into detention sites in Ouagadougou, beaten, deprived of food, and denied access to lawyers or family members. Rights group including Amnesty, RSF and Observatoire Kisal, have added their voices by jointly condemning his disappearance, calling it a deliberate attack on press freedom.

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso is a party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance which classifies enforced disappearance as a crime under International Law, placing victims outside legal protection and exposing them to torture or extrajudicial execution.

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