Burkina Faso’s military government has suspended the country’s largest student union and arrested its leader amid an ongoing crackdown on independent organisations.
In a decree issued by the Minister for Territorial Administration, the General Union of Students of Burkina (Ugeb) was banned from operating for three months over allegations of “advocating terrorism”.
The move marks the latest action by the junta, which seized power in a 2022 coup, against groups seen as critical of the military-led administration.
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The military authorities have pursued a hardline policy against dissenting voices, dissolving or suspending nearly 1,000 civil society groups in recent weeks.
This latest move comes after Ugeb last week denounced “violations of democratic, trade union, and political freedoms” and complained about people being abducted, detained, and held in secret.
It also criticised the junta for its “obvious inability to restore security” in a country still undermined by jihadist violence across most of its territory.
The union said around 10 students, including its president Wilfried Bazo, were arrested overnight on Monday to Tuesday by a group of armed, unidentified individuals who stormed their headquarters in Ouagadougou.
Prosecutors say they will conduct a judicial probe into the student Organisation, in light of the “gravity” of the writings and statements attributed to it.
Rights campaign group Human Rights Watch condemned the suspension of Ugeb saying silencing students would not address the country’s worsening security and governance crisis.
