More than 50 Days Since the Enforced Disappearance of Dr. Daouda Diallo

It has been over fifty days since Dr. Daouda Diallo, Secretary-General of the Collective Against Impunity and Community Stigmatization (CISC), was forcibly disappeared in Burkina Faso.

Dr. Diallo was abducted by security agents on December 1, 2023, after leaving the passport office in Ouagadougou and taken to an unknown location. Days later, an image circulated on social media, showing him in the back of an army truck wearing military uniform, suggesting that he had been forcibly conscripted. However, the government has not officially acknowledged his detention or disclosed his whereabouts, heightening concerns for his safety.

At the time of his disappearance, Dr. Diallo was among a group of civil society leaders and journalists targeted under a military conscription decree issued in April 2023. This decree, enacted under the transitional government, enables authorities to conscript Burkinabè adults for military service. However, the lack of transparency surrounding these conscriptions, particularly their targeting of human rights defenders and government critics, has raised alarm among civil society organizations and the international community.

Dr. Diallo is one of more than a dozen activists and journalists who have been forcibly conscripted in recent months under unclear procedures, with no public records of those drafted or avenues for challenging their enlistment.

Human rights organizations and legal representatives continue to demand Dr. Diallo’s immediate release, urging Burkina Faso’s government to end the use of military conscription as a tool of repression against dissenting voices.