The arrest of prominent lawyer Ini Benjamine Esther Doli has sparked widespread condemnation from the country’s legal community, amid growing fears of escalating repression under Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s military government.
Ms. Doli was detained in Ouagadougou during the night of August 31 to September 1, accused of “treason” and “insulting” the head of state after publishing Facebook posts denouncing alleged human rights abuses by the junta. Her current whereabouts remain unknown, and the Burkina Faso Bar Association has demanded her immediate release.
According to the bar’s president, armed men claiming to be gendarmes forcibly entered the lawyer’s residence before taking her away. Prosecutors allege that her online posts constituted criminal offenses, citing her criticism of the regime and her open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which she urged Moscow to intervene for the release of what she described as “unjustly imprisoned” detainees.
The case has intensified scrutiny of the junta’s crackdown on dissent since Captain Traoré seized power in September 2022. Lawyers, journalists, civil society activists, and even members of the military have faced arrest, abduction, or intimidation for voicing criticism.
While the government promotes its rule as a “sovereignist revolution,” it has openly acknowledged that Burkina Faso “is not a democracy.”
This stance, coupled with ongoing restrictions on civic freedoms, has raised alarms among human rights groups both domestically and internationally.
Burkina Faso remains locked in a decade-long battle against jihadist insurgencies that have destabilized large parts of the country and displaced millions. Critics warn that the arrest of Ms. Doli reflects a broader erosion of fundamental freedoms in the name of national security, leaving the country’s fragile civic space under mounting pressure.
About The Author
