A recent report by Reuters revealed that Arouna Loure, a critic of the military government in Burkina Faso was on September 13th intersected by two men between operating rooms at a hospital in the capital, Ouagadougou, where he was forced into a 4×4 and driven to a military base in the northern city of Kaya.
The anesthesiologist, 38, expressed his concern about the bloodshed associated with Burkina Faso’s roughly decade-long battle against Islamist rebels within the country.
His abduction attracted publicity in the local media, leading to an influx of stories and assertions from civil society about the forced disappearance of scores of activists, journalists, rights advocates, military personnel, and other opponents of Burkina Faso’s military administration over the previous fifteen months.
He was released three months later, before testifying that he wasn’t the only victim.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have tried to bring the junta’s forced conscriptions to light.
Some other victims spoke to Reuters, relaying that similar to Loure, they had been snatched by armed men from their everyday lives and forced to serve the military. These victims recounted a vicious intimidation scheme that included forced military service and torture.
The report disclosed that the conscriptions of junta critics began in March 2023, with Boukare Ouedraogo, the visually handicapped president of a civil society organization in Kaya.
