Following the expulsion of two French journalists and amid rising threats to the press, the IPI global network calls on authorities in Burkina Faso to ensure journalists can carry out their work without fear, threats, or interference. The fight against terrorist activities should not serve as a pretext to cripple independent journalism and critical voices.

The Sahel region, including Burkina Faso, is confronted with growing insecurity due to attacks by terrorist groups. This has led to two military coups in the space of eight months in the country. The current military regime, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, toppled the former military president, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who seized power in January 2022 through a coup of his own against democratically elected President Marc Kabore.

In April 2021, two Spanish journalists, David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, were killed by a terrorist group near Pama Reserve, in the eastern part of the country. But the threats posed to press freedom come not just from insurgency groups, but also from the military-led regime.

Recently two foreign journalists, Agnes Faivre and Sophie Douce, who were working for the newspapers Liberation and Le Monde Afrique, based in France, the former colonial power in Burkina Faso, were forced to leave the country on April 1, 2023. The duo was accused of “tarnishing the image of the country” through their reporting. Before the expulsion of Douce and Faivre, authorities had banned the broadcasting of France 24 and Radio France Internationale (RFI) in the country in March 2023 and December 2022, respectively.

Mali, another military-led regime in the Sahel region, also banned France 24 and RFI in their country, against the backdrop of their fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel. The Sahel region, which includes vast swathes of land of countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, all of which face recurrent attacks from Islamist groups, with spillover effects in the Gulf of Guinea countries such as Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, and which represent a threat to the stability of West Africa as a whole.

Rising pressure on the media

In addition to the crackdown on foreign media and journalists, local independent media and critical journalists are also facing attacks and threats over their reporting on insecurity in the country. According to reports, Radio Omega and its journalists have been receiving threats from unknown individuals because of their media coverage. In a statement published recently, the media regulatory body, Conseil Supérieur de la Communication (CSC), has condemned the ongoing threats against journalists and called on the state authorities to ensure the safety of journalists.

In addition, on April 13, 2023, eight national media associations published a statement condemning the attacks on journalists and demanded that authorities respect press freedom. In their statement they called on the military-led government to ensure journalists are protected and their safety is guaranteed.

In an interview with IPI, Ouaba Boukari, a journalist with the bi-monthly newspaper Le Reporter, lamented the ongoing threats targeted at journalists.

“Since the murder of journalist Norbert Zongo (in 1998), the Burkinabe press and journalists have never been so much under multiform threats”, Boukari said. “There are direct messages calling for the murder of journalists and the most dramatic thing is that this does not seem to offend the authorities who give the impression of turning a blind eye to these serious threats or even of simply supporting them.”

Authorities must protect press freedom

“The legitimate fight against terrorist groups should not result in the erosion of press freedom rights”, said IPI Director of Advocacy Amy Brouillette. “Journalists and media houses play an important role in contributing to public safety and security through watchdog reporting and. Burkina Faso should seek to foster this critical role played by the media instead of attempting to silence independent reporting on the security crisis.”

IPI condemns the recent expulsion of Agnes Faivre and Sophie Douce and calls on authorities to ensure press freedom. We urge authorities to ensure that threats against critical journalists and independent media houses cease, as well as attempts to influence and interfere with media reporting on security issues.