Ibrahim Traoré

Journalist Serge Oulon, known for corruption investigations, disappeared after his arrest; authorities subsequently acknowledged his military conscription. In 2026, HRW reported evidence indicating secret detention and torture.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Burkina Faso, alongside Mali and Niger, announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court; the ICC subsequently confirmed receipt of the withdrawal documents.

Attribution

Political responsibility

The Council of Ministers approved the dissolution of all political parties and removal of the legal framework governing their activities and financing.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

In a televised interview, Traoré declared that democracy was unsuitable for Burkina Faso and called on the population to 'forget' the question of democracy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Following an investigation involving more than 450 interviews and extensive open-source evidence, HRW considered that crimes by government forces and their allies might constitute crimes against humanity and named Traoré among leaders whose command responsibility should be examined.

State of the evidence

Documented

HRW's multi-year investigation documented attacks, forced displacement and other abuses by government forces and pro-government militias against civilians, particularly Fulani people, in a pattern described as systematic in several areas.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Command responsibility

Despite documented massacres, HRW noted insufficient progress towards credible prosecutions of those responsible for numerous abuses attributed to government forces and VDP.

Attribution

Political responsibility

Three journalists, including leaders of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso, were arrested after denouncing repression of the media; their place of detention was unknown at the time of the report.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Critical journalists and activists, some in exile, were placed on a wanted list over alleged association with a terrorist enterprise.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Burkina Faso declared the UN Resident Coordinator persona non grata, marking another deterioration in relations with certain international partners.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The junta continued dismantling the electoral framework and excluding political parties from competition, consolidating a transitional system without an imminent democratic timetable.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Traoré had reaffirmed a commitment to hold elections by July 2024, but the transition was postponed on security grounds.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

HRW concluded that Burkinabè military personnel had summarily executed 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in the villages of Nondin and Soro.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Command responsibility

Burkina Faso's regulator suspended several media outlets that had reported on an HRW investigation into massacres and blocked the organisation's website.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

A new charter extended the transition by 60 months from July 2024, potentially postponing elections until 2029 and allowing Traoré to stand.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

At least seven magistrates who had initiated proceedings against junta supporters received conscription orders; six reported to a base and were subsequently reported missing, according to HRW.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

The regime declared general mobilisation and expanded reliance on Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland and requisition mechanisms to support the war.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Human Rights Watch documented the massacre of at least 156 civilians in Karma by uniformed men identified by witnesses as members of the armed forces.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Command responsibility

HRW documented further extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances attributed to the army during counterterrorism operations.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Command responsibility

Ibrahim Traoré overthrew Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and took control of Burkina Faso's junta during the second coup of 2022.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated