Military regimes in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger are systematically using forced disappearances and illegal detentions to silence critics and suppress dissent. These tactics, widely documented in recent reports, target activists, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders who challenge military rule or demand a return to constitutional order.
In Guinea, two prominent opposition figures—Mamadou Billo Bah and Oumar Sylla (also known as Foniké Menguè)—were abducted from Oumar Sylla’s home just before a nationwide protest against rising living costs and military rule. According to Mohamed Cissé, another detained activist who was later released with severe injuries, they were taken to an undisclosed detention site on the Loos Islands off the coast of Conakry. Despite government denials, their whereabouts remain unknown, leaving their families in anguish and uncertainty.
Silencing civil society through fear and intimidation
Across West Africa, military and security forces employ a consistent strategy: they abduct individuals perceived as threats—whether in public, at home or at work—using unmarked vehicles and blindfolds. Victims are held in secret locations, often for extended periods, subjected to coercive interrogations without legal oversight. This pattern of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention operates outside judicial procedures, with no warrants issued and no accountability from authorities.
Families and legal representatives are deliberately kept in the dark, denied access to detainees or information about their fate. In many cases, victims are later transferred to informal detention sites—such as security service offices—or forcibly conscripted into military service, as seen in Burkina Faso where activists and journalists have been sent to the frontlines. The goal is clear: instill fear, dismantle dissent and erase opposition voices from public life.
Disappearances and illegal detentions escalate across the Sahel
The list of victims continues to grow. In Burkina Faso, lawyer and civil society leader Guy Hervé Kam was illegally detained for five months in 2024 after speaking out against civilian massacres. In March 2025, five members of the Sens movement were abducted by armed men in civilian clothing—witnesses claim they were security personnel—after denouncing abuses linked to the armed conflict. Four journalists—Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala, Kalifara Séré and Alain Traoré—disappeared in mid-2024. While three were later forcibly recruited into the military under a general mobilization decree, the fourth remains missing to this day.
In Niger, journalist Samira Sabou was held incommunicado for a week in September 2023 following her arrest at home. Even the legal team of Moussa Tchangari, Secretary-General of Alternatives Espaces Citoyens, was only informed of his detention site two days after his abduction. Similarly, in Mali, opposition leader Ibrahim Nabi Togola vanished in December 2024 and was only released 45 days later. In Guinea, journalist Habib Marouane Camara was abducted by masked men reportedly linked to the gendarmerie, with no further updates since.
Justice under threat: the fight to uphold the rule of law
Many cases of enforced disappearance end with victims being transferred to police custody to face sham prosecutions. In Burkina Faso, some detainees are forcibly conscripted into the military—sometimes deployed to combat zones. This occurred with journalists Guézouma Sanogo and Boukari Ouoba, leaders of the Burkina Faso Journalists’ Association, who had criticized press freedom violations, and journalist Luc Pagbelguem of private channel BF1. Their families received no news for a week after their arrest on March 24, 2025, until a video surfaced showing them in military uniforms.
Despite mounting risks, judges and magistrates in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger continue to challenge these abuses. In July 2024, the Guinea Bar Association boycotted court sessions for weeks, demanding the release of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah. A Burkinabè court ordered the immediate release of lawyer Guy Hervé Kam, while courts in Mali and Niger have condemned arbitrary detentions. Yet, such acts of judicial defiance come at a cost: at least five magistrates in Burkina Faso were forcibly enlisted into the military in 2024 after presiding over cases involving authorities or their allies.
As military regimes tighten their grip, the judiciary remains a critical line of defense for the rule of law. International support is urgently needed to protect judges and lawyers, uphold human rights, and demand accountability for the growing number of enforced disappearances and illegal detentions sweeping across West Africa.
