|
|
One
of the most prominent Sahel-West Africa Ashoka Fellows, Halidou OUEDRAOGO,
of the Burkinabé Movement for Peoples' and Human Rights (MBDHP),
has been arrested.
He had been
doing remarkable work in leading the government of Burkina Faso to implement
concrete human rights actions at various levels. During the course of
1999 Halidou and the MBDHP have been joined by other civil society organisations
united under the banner of the Collective Body of Burkinabé democratic
grass-roots organisations and political parties. More details are included
in their Document below and action is demanded, as follows:
Contact without delay, whether
by fax, email, telephone or any other means of communication, the political
authorities of Burkina Faso, in order to
* Protest against these
acts which are violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
of the African Charter of Peoples' and Human Rights, of the pact relative
to Political And Civil Rights, of the Convention against Torture, and
of the provisions of articles 3, 7 and 8 of the Constitution of Burkina
Faso.
* Demand: 1) The immediate
and unconditional release of Halidou OUEDRAOGO, Tolé SAGNON, André
TIBIRI, Bénéwendé SANKARA, Boureima SIGUE and Paulin
YAMEOGO.
2) The end of the harassment directed towards democrats and human rights
militants concerned with the Norbert ZONGO case.
3) The prosecution and legitimate trial by honest magistrates of those
responsible for the assasination of Norbert ZONGO and others.
We would appreciate it if you could send to UIDH a copy of the correspendence
you send to the government of Burkina Faso.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
URGENT ACTION
TO ALL SECTIONS OF THE U.I.D.H.
On 26th November 1999 the
Collective Body of Burkinabé democratic grass-roots organisations
and political parties, following the police harassment, arrests and acts
of intimidation that have been directed at the popular demonstrations
held recently, called for the security forces and the national armed forces
of Burkina Faso to 'guarantee the security' and 'defend the people's freedom
to demonstrate.'
This appeal, launched the
day before the demonstrations planned by the Collective Body to mark the
first anniversary of the assassination of Norbert ZONGO and his companions,
was addressed to, among others, the Minister for the Defence of Burkina
Faso, and was made public through the press.
Following this declaration,
those in power resumed their campaign of arrests and acts of intimidation.
Thus, on Wednesday 1st December 1999, Halidou OUEDRAOGO, President of
the Burkinabé Movement for Peoples' and Human Rights (MBDHP) and
of the Collective, Mr Tolé SAGNON the Secretary General of the
General Confederation of the Workers of Burkina Faso (CGTB) and Vice-President
of the Collective, Mr André TIBIRI the Secretary General of the
General Union of Burkinabé Students (UGEB), Mr Bénéwendé
SANKARA the President of the Union of Young Lawyers of Burkina (UJAB),
the cosignatories of the named document, as well as Mr. Boureima SIGUE
the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper 'Le Pays', and Mr Paulin YAMEOGO
the Editor-in-Chief of the weekly 'San Fina', were called in to Ouagadougou's
Criminal Investigation Department for questioning. They were released
that evening at 6pm.
The 02/12/1999, summoned
once again, they were questioned and kept in custody on the premises of
the Criminal Investigation Department.
This arrest follows on from
the other arrests on the night of 27/11/1999 of professor Kapet de BANA
and of Mr Julien TOGBADJIA, respectively Presidents of the Human Rights
leagues of Cameroon and Benin, due to their support for a popular meeting
against impunity held in Ouagadougou on 27/11/1999. These acts constitute
a serious blow to the freedom of expression and the freedom to demonstrate
and are designed to throw up an obstacle to the popular demand for the
prosecution and punishment of those reponsible for the assasination of
the journalist Norbert Zongo and his companions.
|