At least six magistrates in Burkina Faso have been conscripted into the military this month after taking actions against pro-junta activists and others, according to a joint statement from three magistrates’ unions.
Burkina Faso’s military junta, which seized power in a 2022 coup, is accused of stifling dissent through the abduction and forced recruitment of critics while urging citizens to report suspicious neighbors in the name of national security.
In a statement released Thursday, magistrates’ unions revealed that several magistrates recently involved in cases against alleged supporters of the current government have been targeted.
The unions noted that among those affected is a prosecutor who ordered an investigation into forced disappearances and a judge handling a case involving a pro-junta figure linked to a deadly landslide that killed around 60 people.
The statement was shared with journalists on Friday.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Burkina Faso’s military rulers of various abuses, but the junta has repeatedly declined to respond to these allegations.
The army is currently engaged in a battle against a jihadist insurgency that has spread across the Sahel region over the past 12 years, resulting in increasing violence.
This instability has contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso, and one in neighbouring Niger since 2020.
YOU MAY ALSO READ: South Sudan’s controversial law allowing arrests without warrants takes effect without presidential signature