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Title: Burkina Faso Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
BURKINA FASO
President Blaise Compaore continued to dominate the Government of the
Fourth Republic, assisted by members of his party, the Organization for
Popular Democracy/Labor Movement (ODP/MT). In spite of the existence of
more than 60 political parties, there is little viable opposition to the
President and his Government, which includes one representative from a
small self-described opposition party. The ODP/MT controls the National
Assembly with 79 of the 107 seats. Several opposition parties have
modest representation. In December the Government opened the
constitutionally mandated, though purely consultative, second chamber of
the National Assembly.
The security apparatus consists of the armed forces, the paramilitary
gendarmerie, controlled by the Ministry of Defense, and the police,
controlled by the Ministry of Territorial Administration. The 1995
shooting deaths of two high school demonstrators by the gendarmerie in
the town of Garango led to a human rights inquiry.
Over 80 percent of the population of 9.5 million engage in subsistence
agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to rainfall variation. Frequent
drought, limited communications and transportation infrastructure, in
addition to a low literacy rate, are longstanding problems. The 1994
50-percent devaluation of the CFA franc added to the existing economic
hardship of a structural adjustment program under way since 1991. That
program seeks to limit government spending, especially on salaries and
transfers, and open the economy to market forces, including
privatization and reduction in the size of many inefficient state
companies. Per capita annual income is about $150 per year, in post-
devaluation terms.
On balance, 1995 reflected continuing progress in the move towards
greater democratization and decentralization. In this regard, the
peaceful holding of the first multiparty municipal elections since
independence in 1960 was a major step. With minor exceptions, balloting
was considered free and fair by the local human rights organizations
that monitored the contest. However, serious human rights abuses
persisted.
The extrajudicial killings of two student demonstrators by the
gendarmerie and a general climate of impunity fostered by failure to
prosecute previous abusers tarnished the move to greater
democratization. Torture and mistreatment of detainees, and vigilante
killings remained a problem. A libel suit brought by the President
against a political foe for particularly harsh public criticism left
some in the press apprehensive about a resurgence of pressure for self-
censorship. Discrimination and violence against women continued to be
problems. The most egregious instances of gender-based violence
involved female genital mutilation, although women continue to campaign
against this practice as well as against other forms of discrimination.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
In May members of the gendarmerie forces stationed in the town of
Garango shot two unarmed high school students to death when
demonstrators pelted their building with stones. The main human rights
organization, the Burkinabe Movement for Human Rights (MBDHP), issued a
condemnation of these extrajudicial killings and called for an inquiry
which is currently underway. This incident marred an otherwise
improving record regarding security forces. For example, the Government
ceased security sweep-type operations carried out against resurgent
urban and rural bandits the previous year. At the same time, however,
it announced plans to establish new "crime-fighting brigades."
The major problem with law enforcement is a general climate of impunity
for human rights abusers fostered by the habitual failure of the
Government's investigations to lead to guilty findings and/or
appropriate sanctions. Inquiries tend to drag on until they are
overshadowed by subsequent incidents, and then they are quietly shelved.
Appeals by human rights organizations generally go unanswered. This
failure to prosecute previous abuses remains a major hindrance to
further human rights progress.
A police investigation into the July 1994 savage beating of two
prisoners, who later died at the Maco Prison in Ouagadougou, ended
without calling for the punishment of those responsible. Nor were there
further developments regarding the July 1994 corruption scandal which
led to the death of two suspects under suspicious circumstances. The
case involved Youssouf Sawadogo, an influential businessman who
allegedly shot himself when the police arrived to question him. Several
days later, a suspect in the case, Cisse Ousseni, died in police
custody, allegedly of a heart attack. Both an internal police
investigation and one by the Attorney General's office cleared the
police of any wrongdoing. Human rights monitors from the MBDHP maintain
the autopsy performed on Ousseni indicates that he died from abuse.
Although international and local human rights groups pressured the
official commission investigating the 1991 assassination of Clement
Ouedraogo, a prominent opposition leader, to submit a report of
preliminary findings to the Prime Minister, the report has not been made
public. The case remains open, as do the 1989 "disappearance" of
Professor Guillaume Sessouma, detained for allegedly participating in a
coup plot, and of medical student Dabo Boukary in 1990, detained
following student demonstrations. Credible reports indicated that
security forces tortured and killed both. The Government continued to
make no real effort to investigate the fate of a Ghanaian detainee,
reportedly killed in 1993 while in police custody. To date, the
authorities have provided no explanation of the 1994 death of Doin
Redan, who was found dead 1 day after being detained by police.
Another disturbing trend was the increase in reported cases of vigilante
killings by the public. There were numerous documented incidents of
summary mob justice meted out to thieves caught by the citizenry, mostly
in urban centers.
b. Disappearance
There have been no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
While legally prohibited, torture and mistreatment of detainees, often
to extract confessions, have been documented for a number of years.
There are credible reports that officials at Maco Prison continue to
employ torture and degrading treatment, including beatings, cold
showers, exposure to hot sun, and forcing persons to eat their own
feces, as occurred in the case of the two internees cited in Section
1.a. The Government is not known to have taken any disciplinary action
against those responsible.
Prison conditions are harsh, overcrowded, and can be life-threatening.
The federal prison in Bobo-Dioulasso, built in 1947, housed about 1,000
prisoners, although designed to hold less than half that number. The
prison diet is poor, and inmates must often rely on supplemental food
from relatives.
In 1994 police trainee commissioner Roger Zango, in an address at the
Police Academy, strongly criticized abuse of detainees. However, the
climate of impunity created by government failure to prosecute abusers
remains the largest obstacle to ending torture and other abuses.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution provides that the Supreme Court is the highest court in
the country. Beneath it are two courts of appeal and ten provincial
courts ("de grande instance"). The Constitution also provides for a
High Court of Justice, with jurisdiction to try the President and senior
government officials for treason and other serious crimes, but it has
not yet been established. According to the Constitution, the judiciary
is independent of the executive. The judiciary is very gradually
becoming more independent in practice, but it remains susceptible to
manipulation by the executive branch.
In practice, the President has extensive appointment and other influence
over the judiciary. The National Assembly passed legislation reforming
the military court system, which had been susceptible to considerable
executive manipulation. This system was staffed in 1995.
The Constitution provides for the right to expeditious arraignment and
access to legal counsel, and the law limits detention for investigative
purposes without charge to a maximum of 72 hours, renewable for a single
48-hour period. In practice, however, police rarely observe these
provisions. The average time of detention without charge is one week.
A few intellectuals, military officers, and former government officials
remain in self-imposed exile abroad following the overthrow and
assassination of former Burkinabe president Thomas Sankara in October
1987, but most desiring to do so have repatriated themselves.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
In 1995 the Government announced the creation of the Office of
Ombudsman, called "Mediateur du Faso." Retired General Marc Garango was
appointed to the position which is responsible for mediating disputes
between the state and its citizens. In addition to the formal
judiciary, customary or traditional courts, presided over by village
chiefs, handle many neighborhood and village-level problems, such as
divorce and inheritance disputes. These decisions are generally
respected by the population, but citizens may also take the case to a
formal court.
The Constitution provides for the right to public trial, access to
counsel, and has provisions for bail and appeal. While these rights are
generally respected, the ability of citizens to obtain a fair trial
remains circumscribed by ignorance of the law (70 percent of the
population is illiterate) and by a continuing shortage of magistrates.
The Penal Code, based on the French model instituted in 1877, is still
in force. A review of the code, aimed at making it more relevant to
modern requirements, is currently under way.
At year's end, the only person whom local human rights organizations
considered a political prisoner was the leader of a leftist party who
was tried for slandering the President. The accused, however, was
accorded due process and the verdict is currently under appeal (see
Section 2.a.).
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for these rights, and, in practice, the
authorities generally do not interfere in the daily lives of ordinary
citizens. In national security cases, however, the law permits
surveillance, searches, and monitoring of telephones and private
correspondence without a warrant. Under normal circumstances, by law,
homes may be searched only with the authority of a warrant issued by the
Minister of Justice except in certain cases, such as houses of
prostitution and gambling dens. Such warrants must be executed during
"legal hours," defined as between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The 1990 Information Code provides for freedom of speech and press. In
practice, these freedoms still remain circumscribed by a certain degree
of self-censorship. The President and his Government remain sensitive
to criticism. However, provisions in the Code granting the Government
the ability to intimidate the press through a broad interpretation of
defamation were removed in December 1993. As a result, journalists now
charged with libel may defend themselves in court by presenting evidence
in support of their allegations. Perhaps as a consequence, the
independent press continued to exercise greater freedom of expression.
On August 4, the Bloc Socialiste Burkinabe (BSB) published a party
statement marking the anniversary of the Sankarist Revolution. It was
reported by only one newspaper, the independent Observateur.
Authorities charged BSB leader Nongma Ernest Ouedraogo with libel for
alleging, among other things, that the President is corrupt and
suggesting that he feeds human flesh to lions he has on his property.
Ouedraogo was expeditiously tried under the law, in a civil suit, at
which he provided no evidence for his allegations. He was fined a
symbolic 1 franc and sentenced to 6 months in jail. His appeal was
denied and he served 5 months. Meanwhile, the President's lawyer is
appealing the conviction. The incident did, however, underscore a
lingering tendency toward self-censorship.
The independent press now includes four dailies, a dozen weekly
newspapers, and a weekly news magazine. Although the official media,
including the daily newspaper Sidwaya and the national radio, display
progovernment bias, the presence of independent competition led it to
give more news attention to the political opposition. There are a half-
dozen thriving radio stations, one with eight branches, and one private
television station.
Academic freedom is recognized.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and association.
Permits must, however, be obtained from municipal authorities for
political marches. Applicants must indicate date, time, duration, and
itinerary of the march or rally, and authorities may alter or deny
requests on grounds of public safety. However, denials or modifications
may be appealed before the courts.
Since early 1990, political parties have been permitted to organize and
hold meetings and rallies without seeking government permission. The
Government did not attempt to break up strike action by railway workers
in July (see Section 6).
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and this is respected
in practice. Burkina Faso is a secular state. Islam, Christianity, and
traditional religions operate freely without government interference.
Neither social mobility nor access to modern sector jobs are linked to,
or restricted by, religious affiliation.
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
Freedom of movement is guaranteed by the Constitution and respected in
practice. Gendarmes routinely stopped travelers within the country for
identity and customs checks and the levying of road taxes at police and
military checkpoints. There is no restriction on foreign travel for
business or tourism. Refugees are accepted freely. Due to civil unrest
in neighboring countries, there are nearly 42,000 refugees and displaced
persons, mostly Tuaregs from Mali and Niger. The Government cooperates
with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. There were no reports
of forced expulsion of those having a valid claim to refugee status.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens have the constitutional right to change their government
through multiparty elections. In practice, however, they have been
unable to exercise that right fully. Power remained in the hands of
President Compaore and the ODP/MT Party, most of whose members also
played prominent roles in the ruling National Revolutionary Council
(1983-87) and Popular Front (1989-91). The Government includes a strong
Presidency, a Prime Minister, a Council of Ministers presided over by
the President, a two-chamber National Assembly, and the judiciary. The
legislature is independent, but it remains susceptible to external
influence.
The first municipal elections took place in 1995. The President's
ODP/MT party secured over 1,100 of some 1,700 councillor seats being
contested. On the whole, the balloting, which was monitored by
representatives of several local human rights groups, proceeded freely
and fairly. The next presidential and national legislative elections
are slated for late 1997 or early 1998.
In 1994 the Supreme Court ruled that an elected deputy in the National
Assembly is not bound to the political party under which that person was
elected and may change party affiliations as a representative in the
legislature. This practice has been labelled "political nomadism" and
is responsible for much of the factionalism in opposition parties.
There are no restrictions in law or practice on the participation of
women or minority group members in politics. However, there are few
women in positions of responsibility; 3 of the 23 ministers and 6 of the
107 National Assembly deputies are women.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The Government's attitude toward local human rights groups has been
mixed. It continued to tolerate the activities of the MBDHP, an
independent group with representation in all 30 provinces, but
criticized it for an erroneous communique issued during the Garango
incident (see Section l.a.) when it alleged that a third student had
been killed by security forces in a separate demonstration. The MBDHP
later retracted the statement. Its president, Halidou Ouedraogo,
publicly alleged that he had received death threats from a legislator in
the Assembly. The latter denied the charges. The year also witnessed
the creation of a fourth locally based human rights organization, the
Association in Defense of Democracy in Africa for Grassroots Development
and the Emergence of a Civil Society (ADABA).
The Government is responsive to investigations by international
nongovernmental organizations (NGO's). Amnesty International was
apprised of the Garango killings. It is currently in touch with the
MBDHP and awaiting the results of the government inquiry into that
accident.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race,
religion, or ethnic origin. Minority ethnic groups, like the majority
Mossi, are represented in the inner circles of the Government, and
government decisions do not favor one group over another.
Women
Violence against women, especially wife beating, continues to be a
problem. Cases of wife beating are usually handled through customary
law and practice. The Government is attempting, using education through
the media, to change attitudes toward women.
Women face extensive discrimination, and have no constitutional or other
legal protections. In general, women continue to occupy a subordinate
position and experience discrimination in such areas as education, jobs,
property, and family rights. In the modern sector, however, women make
up one-fourth of the government work force, although usually in lower
paying positions. Women still do much of the subsistence farming work.
According to the law, there is no discrimination in inheritance or
divorce, but practices vary according to the customs of smaller
villages.
Government efforts to improve the situation of women include the
launching of a fund supported by the U.N. Development Program to make
loans to women in villages. Many NGO's are actively working to change
attitudes toward woman with full government cooperation and
participation by women's groups.
Children
The Constitution nominally protects children's rights. The Government's
efforts to revitalize education have raised the literacy rate from 16
percent to 23 percent in 4 years. Primary health care has been
revitalized through the privatization of hospitals, which have greater
autonomy in their management.
Females constitute approximately one-third of the total student
population in the primary, secondary, and higher educational systems--
although the percentage decreases dramatically beyond the primary level.
Schools in rural areas have disproportionately fewer female students
than schools in urban areas.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is widely condemned by
international health experts as damaging to both physical and
psychological health, is still widely practiced especially in many rural
areas, and it is usually performed at an early age. According to an
independent expert in the field, the percentage of females who have
undergone this procedure may be as high as 70 percent. The Government
has made a strong commitment to eradicate FGM through educational
efforts, and a newly formed national committee with United States
Government assistance launched a campaign against the practice.
Nevertheless, FGM is still widely practiced. At year's end, it was
evident that the Government had taken an important first step via its
sensitization campaign regarding the deleterious effects of this
practice. Another form of mutilation, scarification of the faces of
both boys and girls of certain ethnic groups, is gradually disappearing.
People With Disabilities
While there is a modest program of government subsidies for workshops
for the disabled, there is no government mandate or legislation
concerning accessibility for the disabled.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
A new labor code is currently before the National Assembly for review.
Notwithstanding this pending legislation, workers, including civil
servants, traditionally have enjoyed a legal right to association which
is recognized under the Constitution. There are 6 major labor
confederations and 12 autonomous trade unions linked together by the
National Confederal Committee. They represent a wide ideological
spectrum, of which the largest and most vocal member espouses a
Socialist doctrine. Essential workers--police, fire, and health
workers--may not join unions.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, and workers use
strike actions to achieve labor goals. The railway workers union went
on a major strike in July to protest the announced reduction in force of
some 500 employees following privatization of the company. Actions
taken to block rail traffic shut down the railroad and landlocked
Burkina's main export vehicle to the coast. The Government did not
attempt to break up the strike action. The strike ended with resumption
of rail service on August 26.
Labor unions freely affiliate with international trade union bodies.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Unions have the right to bargain for wages and other benefits, both
directly with employers and with industry associations. These
negotiations are governed by minimums on wages and other benefits
contained in the Interprofessional Collective Convention and the
Commercial Sector Collective Convention, which are established with
government participation. If no agreement is reached, employees may
exercise their right to strike. Either labor or management may also
refer an impasse in negotiations to labor tribunals. Appeals may be
pursued through the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court, whose decision
is binding on both parties. Collective bargaining is extensive in the
modern wage sector but this encompasses only a small percentage of
workers.
The Labor Code prohibits antiunion discrimination. The Labor Ministry
handles complaints about such discrimination, which the plaintiff may
appeal to a Labor Tribunal. If the Tribunal sustains the appeal, the
employer must reinstate the worker. Union officials believe that this
system functions adequately.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced labor and it is not practiced.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code now in effect sets the minimum age for employment at 14
years, the average age for completion of basic secondary school.
However, the Ministry of Employment, Labor, and Social Security, which
oversees labor standards, lacks the means to enforce this provision
adequately, even in the small wage sector. Most children actually begin
work at an earlier age on small, family subsistence farms, in the
traditional apprenticeship system, and in the informal sector.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Labor Code mandates a minimum monthly wage, a standard workweek of
40 hours with at least one 24-hour rest period, and establishes safety
and health provisions. The current minimum monthly wage in the formal
sector, about $48 (cfa 25,000), does not apply to subsistence
agriculture, employing about 85 percent of the population. The
Government last set the minimum wage in April. It is not adequate for
an urban worker to support a family. Wage earners usually supplement
their income through reliance on the extended family and subsistence
agriculture.
A system of government inspections under the Ministry of Labor and the
Labor Tribunals is responsible for overseeing health and safety
standards in the small industrial and commercial sectors, but these
standards do not apply in the subsistence agricultural sector. In
December 1993, the Center for Worker Education in Ouagadougou reported
that since 1991 there were 2,399 recorded workplace accidents (1,476 in
the manufacturing sector, 215 in construction, and 192 in transport and
communications sectors). Every company is required to have a work
safety committee. If a workplace has been declared unsafe by the
government labor inspection office for any reason, workers have the
right to remove themselves from dangerous work without jeopardy to
continued employment. In practice there are indications that this right
is respected, but such declarations are relatively rare.
(###)
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