West African Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) coalition, the People’s Coalition for the Sahel, recently demanded the immediate release of Burkina Faso human rights defender Daoda Diallo.
Diallo serves as Secretary General for the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatisation of Communities (CISC). He was reportedly abducted by unidentified individuals shortly after he left the passport office in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso.
The Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta, has been conducting a large-scale requisition of its citizens since November. The junta forcibly mobilizes individuals, such as journalists, politicians, and Diallo, who are listed in the requisition for participating in government security operations.
In September, former National Transitional Council member Arouna Louré was also detained by authorities and is yet to be located. Burkina Faso is in the grips of violence due to the expansion of the jihadist group, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, and the emergence of self-defense groups known as Koglweogo.
The CISC, a collective of 30 civil societies and humanitarian organizations, has been actively documenting unlawful killings and instances of torture committed by the Koglweogo in the name of community policing.
The coalition, in their statement, further emphasized the need for Meta (formerly Facebook) and X to increase their vigilance against hate speech aiming to block violent discourse polarizing the Sahel region.
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