West African juntas are undermining human rights
First published at Review of African Political Economy.
The main claims by the West African military juntas, when they took power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, was that they would quickly address the security issues in their countries. In each case, they have failed to do so. If anything, the insurgency by armed militants is getting worse, especially in Burkina Faso and Mali. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), nearly 13,000 people, most of whom were civilians, were killed in 2024 in these three countries. This was a small reduction compared to the year before.
In addition, the military are extending their rule with promises of elections and a return to civilian rule being postponed or forgotten. The increasingly authoritarian military rulers are inflicting further attacks on human rights in each of these three countries, and in Guinea, as we show below.
According to Jean-Hervé Jezequel, Directeur of the Sahel Projet at the International Crisis Group, in early February, the nationalism of the military juntas of the Sahel “is taking an increasingly authoritarian and brutal turn. Civilians are paying a high price in rural areas and critical voices are increasingly being silenced. There have never been as many civilian deaths in the Sahel as in the last two years; the arrests of journalists and human rights defenders are silencing opposition and sclerotic democratic life.”
Despite this the trade unions are still able to organise and are beginning to act to improve the conditions of their members. However, much more is needed to reduce the levels of poverty, inequality and corruption that are the main drivers of insecurity. The attacks on human rights by the four military juntas makes it more difficult for the trade unions to organize.
The anti-French rhetoric of the juntas has clearly tapped into a deep feeling of injustice at the historic and current actions of the French forces. Requests for French soldiers to leave were announced in November last year in Chad and Senegal, two other West African countries. Côte d’Ivoire has also confirmed a drastic reduction in French troops. The military governments were able to organise large rallies in support of their nationalist policies. But as the insecurity continues and living conditions for the popular classes do not improve, this support appears to be waning. The rallies are now less frequent and smaller than in previous years.
The insecurity across the Sahel also has deep roots in the poverty and inequality across the region made worse by climate change. The armed militants are able to exploit these economic grievances which will have to be comprehensively addressed before lasting peace can be achieved. Insecurity across the region has already lasted decades.
Military based responses inevitably lead to civilian ‘collateral damage’ which can extend the insecurity, especially where relatives and families can link their loss to ethnic or community-based alliances. Across the world, especially where such uprisings gain even a measure of popular support, there is no military solution. The US forces failed in Vietnam and Afghanistan, the French and UN forces have similarly failed across West Africa.
The failure of Russian forces to save the former President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, casts doubt on the extent to which Russian forces in West Africa will be able to protect the military juntas. Moving military support from France to Russia may not prove effective. These regimes will only survive if they are prepared to address the socio-economic injustices in their countries.
Burkina Faso
“The human rights situation in Burkina Faso is very worrying”, said Drissa Traoré, Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR) in early October. In addition, the National Commission of Human Rights is concerned about the arrests and kidnappings of citizens by unidentified individuals and outside of any adequate procedures.
Over two years after Ibrahim Traoré’s coup d’état, human rights organizations paint a bleak picture of the violation of basic freedoms. IFHR denounces in particular the arbitrary arrests of opponents of the junta, the forced recruitment of civilians into the army, the disappearance of defenders of freedoms and the end of freedom of the press. Street protests have been banned in Burkina Faso since the Traoré led coup in September 2022.
This situation has been made worse by the introduction of anonymous hotlines. In September 2024 alone, 726 denunciations were made and these resulted in at least 350 arrests. In October, a meeting of about 50 journalists complained about the disappearance of four of their colleagues who are thought to be “in the hands of the military”. The junta is also considering the re-introduction of the death penalty.
IFHR also shares its concern about the increase in disappearances of human rights activists and the growing repression of dissident voices. “We are witnessing a resurgence of arbitrary arrests and pressure on journalists and activists”. Several prominent figures found themselves sent to the front to fight against Islamic militants, including human rights defender Daouda Diallo and former foreign minister Ablassé Ouédraogo.
In 2023, Amnesty International said, “public figures were abducted or arrested and forcibly disappeared, including the national president of an organization representing pastoralists’ interests” who are blamed for the insurgency. In addition, in late November 2024, the junta announced that it had frozen the goods and assets of around 100 people. They were accused of “participation in acts of terrorism and financing terrorism”.
The IFHR calls for a general mobilization to restore fundamental freedoms in Burkina Faso and guarantee the independence of the justice system. Some fifteen Burkinabe unions, united in a collective, called for a rally on October 31 in the capital, Ouagadougou to protest against “restrictions on freedoms” which they say have been imposed by the country’s military authorities.
Despite the increasing level of repression, the military are failing to address the insecurity. Human Rights Watch estimates that 6,000 people were killed in 2024, a record number of victims, illustrating the powerlessness of the military junta. Allegations continue about massacres by the army. In early February, for example, there was another massacre in the northeast of the country. Several dozen people were reported killed between the towns of Seytenga and Sebba, in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso.
Russian military personal are being used to personally protect Traoré. When he came to power he promised to stay only for 21 months. But this was extended by another five years from July 2024. In addition, Captain Traoré is to be free to continue his rule by being a presidential candidate when the elections finally take place.
In early February, a webinar was held to denounce the serious violations of the law. It was over a year since the lawyer Guy Hervé Kam, leader of the political movement SENS, was first detained for “undermining state security”. Lawyers had previously struck for a day in February 2024 and again, for five days in June. He was previously the co-founder of the “Balai citoyen” movement that led the protests against the former dictator, Blaise Compaoré, in 2014. Before that he was the lawyer for the family of the former president Thomas Sankara who was killed in the coup by Compaoré.
“This mainly concerns the restriction of individual and collective freedoms (which) result in forced disappearances of citizens, kidnappings of citizens by armed and hooded individuals, forced recruitment, measures to close press organs”, said Moussa Diallo, Secretary General of the General Confederation of Burkina Workers (CGT-B), the principal trade union centre in Burkina Faso. He was effectively sacked from his university lecturer post in April 2024 and is now in hiding to avoid being kidnapped or arrested. In October, the CGT-B said this was an “act of direct repression against the union and infringes on the right to freedom of association”.
In August 2024, the hospitals were paralyzed by a three-day strike by the National Union of Human and Animal Health Workers (Syntsha), to demand pay rises and compensation.
One glimmer of hope is that talks resumed in early February between the trade unions and the government. This was after four years of suspension. The discussions covered individual and collective freedom and the high cost of living. The trade unions are looking for implementation of promises made by successive governments since 2015. The dismissal of the trade union leader, Moussa Diallo was also raised.
Mali
The Malian military authorities, in power since the second coup of 24 May 2021, have continued to drastically restrict the civic and democratic rights. The last four years have seen a resurgence of arrests, arbitrary detentions, abductions, secret detentions and also of judicial harassment of anyone who expresses a dissenting opinion.
The four years of military rule have also been marked by threats and intimidation, kidnappings and arbitrary arrests of Malian journalists and opinion leaders. International media journalists have had their authorities denied. In early February, Daouda Magassa, a close supporter of the imam Mahmoud Dicko, was detained by State Security. Dicko was due to return to Mali in mid-February.
In late January, the army and members of the Wagner group were again accused of a massacre, this time of a dozen people in the region of Douentza in the centre of Mali. Half a dozen people had been reported to have been executed by the same forces in early December in the region of Timbuktu.
Despite this repression, the attacks by armed militants continue. On 7th February, for example, around 30 civilians were killed while travelling in a convoy guarded by the army and Russian mercenaries. They were travelling in the north of Mali about 30 miles from Goa. In response, the transporters of Goa went on strike. They were demanding not to be escorted by the army that made them a target for the militants.
In June 2024, 11 leading politicians were arrested for demanding the return to civilian rule. The same month, magistrates threatened a three-day strike to denounce political pressure and demand respect for judicial principles. In late November the Prime Minister of Mali was removed days after he criticised the junta for delays in the return to civilian rule. He was replaced by a military general.
Also in June 2024, the National Union of Banks, Insurance Companies, Financial Institutions and Enterprises of Mali (SYNABEF) held a three-day strike by banks and petrol stations and won the release of its secretary general, Hamadoun Bah after five nights in detention. Bah is also the secretary general of UNTM, the largest trade union centre in Mali. A coalition of political parties and associations (Synergy of Action for Mali) also called for protests against the high cost of living and power cuts.
Again in June 2024, the higher education union, SNESUP held a three day strike. They had several grievances, including the suspension of the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management and the implementation of the agreement recently reached with the government following the previous indefinite strike in 2023. They also demanded improvements in working conditions, salary increases, regularization of salary arrears and security for schools and universities.
At the end of October, the head of one of the cattle markets in the capital, Bamako, was arrested by state security. This was after a one day strike over the relocation of the cattle market. In addition, Daouda Konaté, secretary general of the prison guards’ trade union, was detained on October 25, for “undermining the credibility and security of the State”. Shortly before his arrest, he had criticized the Malian prison system.
At about the same time, the prison guards threatened to go on strike as Daouda Konaté, the general secretary of their union and another comrade were arrested. The union is particularly concerned about prison over-crowding in Mali and Daouda had made a statement about this a few days before his disappearance. At the end of October, the cybercrime prosecutor in Mali announced an investigation against Daouda Konaté and he was charged with “undermining state security”.
At the end of 2024, two trade unions of university lecturers announced a strike from 27 January, 2025 to 15th February, with automatic renewal. The strike concerns the immediate payment of a research bonus, agreed in 2017.
Presidential elections scheduled for 27 February 2024, which would have allowed a return to civilian rule, were again postponed in September 2023. In April and May 2024, the Malian military authorities organised the Inter-Malian Dialogue, national consultations aimed at proposing solutions to the political and security crisis in Mali. The dialogue produced 300 recommendations, including calls to “extend the transition period from two to five years” and to “promote the candidacy of Colonel Assimi Goïta in the next presidential elections“.
Niger
The military authorities in Niger have cracked down on the opposition, media, and peaceful dissent since taking power in July 2023, says Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR).
On May 29, the justice and human rights minister issued a circular suspending all visits by human rights organizations to Nigerien prisons “until further notice“, in violation of national and international human rights law.
On August 27, 2024, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani established “an automated data processing file containing personal data of people, groups of people or entities involved in acts of terrorism.” “Niger’s new counterterrorism order allows people to be labelled suspected terrorists on vague criteria and with no credible evidence,” said Human Rights Watch. Those included in the database face severe consequences, including being denied the ability to travel nationally and internationally, and having their assets frozen.
On 17th January, after the broadcast of a report on the effectiveness of government ministers, programs of the major private Canal 3 TV channel were suspended for one month and its editor-in-chief was suspended for three months. The editor was interviewed by the police and two days later he was released and the suspensions were lifted and the channel was back on air. Suspensions of several international media, such as RFI, France 24 and the BBC remain in place.
The editor of the daily L’Enquêteur, Idrissa Soumana Maiga, was imprisoned from April to July 2024 for “undermining national defense,” before being granted provisional release. In September and October 2023, journalist Samira Sabou was arrested and held incommunicado, before being granted provisional release, charged with disseminating information likely to disturb public order.
In early February, the International Red Cross were asked to leave the country.
The Trade Union of Magistrates of Niger (SAMAN) called for a 72 hour strike at the beginning of June, 2024 to defend judicial independence and protest against the intervention of the executive branch in judicial affairs.
In mid-September, two journalists’ unions expressed their concern about the disappearance since 1st September of their Ivorian colleague Serge Mathurin Adou, and demanded explanations from the authorities.
Negotiations opened between government ministers and trade union leaders in mid-October. Before the coup, the trade unions held a two day general strike to demand the harmonization of allowances for all state agents, the recruitment of contract civil servants in education and health to the civil service and the increase in the minimum wage. These demands remain to be addressed. However, in July the price of petrol was reduced from 550 à 499 FCFA (N1,500 to N1,350) and in August the fees and charges in public hospitals were reduce by 50%.
In late November 2024, one in 12 pensioners had their files deleted from the list of public sector pensioners. They already suffered delays and problems in being paid their pensions.
Guinea
A widely supported three-day general strike was held in February 2024. The call was launched by trade unions from the public, private and informal sectors, seeking a reduction in the prices of basic necessities and an end to media censorship. The unions also demanded and won the release of Sékou Jamal Pendessa, Secretary General of the Union of Press Professionals of Guinea. The strike received the support of the main political parties and most civil society organisations.
Michel Pépé Balamou, Secretary General of the National Education Union (SNE) and member of the National Negotiation Coalition for the union side, pointed out that the “fed up” feeling went beyond the trade union members:
Beyond the union organizations, you will observe on the ground a generalized discontent of all workers, of the entire Guinean population in relation to the impoverishment in which they find themselves, but also the high cost of living, the increase in the price of basic necessities, without prior consultation with the unions.
There was then a truce between the military and the opposition and civil society. In May, the military regime released Foniké Menguè and two other civil society leaders while civil society suspended its demonstrations.
But then, the Prime Minister said in late September: “We do not yet have complete and precise information on where they may be,” in response to a question about the disappearance, since July 9, of two activists from the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), Foniké Menguè and Mamadou Billo Bah. Since then there has been no news about their whereabouts.
In July, the Guinean customs also seized nearly a thousand copies of the autobiography of Foniké Menguè. The stock of books was being transported from Dakar. According to the Customs Directorate, it was seized at the land border with Guinea for reasons of “public order and public security.” At the end of October 2024, the junta dissolved about 50 political parties and suspended another 50. Earlier in the year the junta agreed to hold elections by the end of 2024 but then backtracked on this in July.
Earlier in October, the trade union centre, the National Confederation of Guinea Workers (CNTG) demanded the full implementation of the agreement of November 2023. This included the negotiation of a revised minimum wage for the private and informal sectors and improved public sector transport services.
At the end of November workers at the mobile company MTN were considering strike over the sale of the company to a local firm. The workers particularly criticized the management of MTN Guinea for “refusing to involve trade unionists in discussions and negotiations concerning points affecting workers in the sales process.”
In January 2025, miners were threatening to go out on strike. They were calling for improved living and working conditions for employees in the mining sector and an end to the delays in negotiations.
Conclusions
The military coups in West Africa have not addressed the key issues of poverty, inequality and corruption. Neither have they been able to address the high levels of insecurity. This was the main issue most of the juntas gave for removing the previous civilian governments. Where the insecurity is worse, especially in Burkina Faso and Mali, the military coups have led to a major worsening of human rights.
However, the trade unions have managed to continue to organise, although in some cases they have largely made their peace with the military governments. Perhaps in isolated cases, they are continuing to reassert their rights and to push for improvements in the conditions of their members. We can only hope that this will continue and that they are able to address the issues of deep poverty and inequality that led to and maintain the high levels of insecurity.
This assertion of trade union activism is also needed in the other countries of West Africa that are still ruled by civilian governments. Here poverty, inequality and corruption also remain major issues and will not change with the removal of French military forces or other largely nationalistic measures.
Salvador Ousmane is a Nigerian socialist who has spent years involved in activism, socialist organising and the development of radical organisations and ideas for an anti-capitalist future in Africa.